Through The Mirror Darkly
by lord of the land of fire
Summary: In Melromarc the Shield Hero is hated and treated unfairly. In a country where he is instead loved and admired will there still be problems?
1. A different path

Despite everything that had happened until now the Pope of the Church of the Three Heroes was still smiling. He was too dangerous, Naofumi needed to put an end to him here and now. He was in pain and he was getting tired. The Shield of Wrath was powerful, but it was also a curse. _How do I stop this guy?_ Naofumi wondered. As if in answer the words of a spell popped into his head. He didn't know exactly what it would do, but he had nothing else.

"This is the name of the punishment for the foolish sinner who shall be sacrificed to God. Pay now the full measure of your sins and suffer my wrath! **Blood Sacrifice**!"

The instant he completed the spell Naofumi screamed. Blood gushed from his nose, mouth, and eyes. In a hundred different places his skin tore open and bled. He could feel his muscles tear and even heard his bones creak. _Was this spell some kind of suicide maneuver_?!

Seeing this the Pope burst into laughter and pointed to him. "You see! God has won, Shield Devil!"

His laughter cut off suddenly when a massive sets of steel teeth popped up out of the ground surrounding him. It was like a gigantic bear trap with seven sets of jaws. All seven suddenly snapped shut, their steel teeth biting into him deep. The Pope's only answer was a wordless howl. The jaws opened and closed rapidly, as if hungry. The divine weapon he'd been holding began to crack and quickly broke apart. After perhaps thirty seconds, the spell concluded, and steel trap vanished. By then the Pope of the Church of the Three Heroes was nothing but bloody chunks.

When it was over the battlefield was silent. Allies and enemies alike were just staring. Even Naofumi thought what had happened gruesome. Without even noticing it he slipped off Firo's back and fell to the ground.

"Master! Master's bleeding! Someone help, master!" Firo screamed.

He could hear Raphtalia shouting his name. He was feeling very, very tired. From somewhere he heard a voice he didn't recognize.

"Medical corps hurry! You must save the Shield Hero's life! This is a royal decree!"

He wondered who that was but was too tired to worry about it. He closed his eyes.

XXX

The following day Naofumi was still unconscious. He had been moved to a fortress on the edge of the capitol. The queen of Melromarc, Melty's mother, had brought him here along with the other heroes and their companions. Naofumi had received constant treatment from the royal healers. The burns and cuts had all been cured and he was breathing peacefully, but he hadn't woken up yet. Firo was in her little girl form and was curled up on his chest asleep. Raphtalia was sitting in a chair beside him. A few feet behind her was Melty. A pair of healers were also in the room. Though they'd assured everyone Naofumi was no longer in danger, two of them were always kept on hand just in case.

The door to the infirmary opened and a statuesque woman with purple hair, a crown, and an extravagant gown entered, her face obscured with a fan. Trailing on her heel was Motoyasu.

"But I don't understand why-"

The queen turned to him, keeping the fan over most of her face. "I have explained my reasons to you, Spear Hero. Many of the agents of the church are still active. Until they can be arrested it is best that we keep our location a secret."

"Even from the king?"

Queen Mirelia gave a single curt nod. "I don't yet know the degree of his involvement in this conspiracy, whether he was an active participant or simply a willing tool. I know he genuinely loves both of our children, so I cannot believe he would conspire to have one of them murdered." Melty gave a silent nod in agreement. "Nevertheless, until I am absolutely certain of his role in all this secrecy is key."

"I understand, but do you really need to keep Mein locked up? She's your daughter!"

"I am aware of that," the queen said in a voice that could turn blood to ice. Motoyasu paled a bit. "I will pass judgement on her, depending on my sentence you may need to acquire a new companion."

"But-"

"My decision is final, Spear Hero. Please do not argue with me any further on this matter."

"Okay, I get it," he sighed. Motoyasu glanced over at everyone else. His eyes immediately focused on the angelic form of Firo.

Raphtalia put a hand on her sword and stood up. "Don't even think about it," she growled.

He held his hands up and left.

"Why am I surrounded by so much selfishness?" The queen muttered.

"Mother," Melty hurried to stand in front of her. "Thank you for doing so much for Naofumi."

The queen closed her fan and put it away. She gave her daughter an indulgent smile. "So, it's Naofumi, not Shield Hero? My, my, have you two gotten close in your short time together?"

Melty's cheeks blushed a bright red. "N.. No, it's not like that! B… But he saved my life. I have a debt to him, and I want to repay it."

Her mother continued to smile at the little girl. "Oh? Is that all it is, just a sense of obligation?"

The girl's cheeks got even redder and she stared down at the floor.

"Well I agree that we owe him a great deal. For rescuing you, and much else besides."

"Ah," Raphtalia hesitantly approached. "Thank you for helping Naofumi-sama. I am very grateful." She bowed.

"I am the one who should be grateful for all he has done for this country and this world. I am well aware of how unfairly he has been treated. I promise you that will be rectified. I will see to it he is given the respect and assistance he has earned."

"Thank you, your majesty. I am very relieved to hear that." Her tail began to wag vigorously. "I am sure Naofumi-sama will be grateful to you too. Though, ah, please don't be offended if he is a little rude. He, ah, can be that way sometimes."

"Scary too," Melty added.

Raphtalia nodded.

"Rest assured I won't take offense. I am willing to go quite far to try and make up for what has been done to him by my family and my people. I intend-" The queen cut off when one of her shadows suddenly appeared at her side. "What is it?"

The shadow glanced at Raphtalia and Melty. She leaned in to whisper in the queen's ear.

"What?!" The queen cried out.

The shadow nodded and hurriedly whispered more. Melty and Raphtalia looked at each other nervously.

"Noisy," Firo lifted her head and yawned.

"I see," the queen took her fan back out and snapped it open. "Bring them here at once." The shadow bowed quickly and vanished.

"Is something wrong?" Raphtalia asked.

"It would seem so."

"Is it the church? Are they attacking?" Raphtalia was surprised when the queen shook her head.

"No, it is a different problem." 

XXX

A few minutes later two people were led to the infirmary. Queen Mirelia awaited them with her face covered below her eyes. Raphtalia, Firo, and Melty were standing behind her. The first person through the door was a svelte middle-aged man wearing a bright red and gold long coat and vest. His hair was bright red and he had a pair of fox ears, his bushy tail was snapping back and forth. Behind him was a plump woman in robes that was made of mixed up splotches of black and white. She had two squat ears atop her head, the one on her right was white and the one on her left was black. As soon as they were in the room it was the man who spoke.

"So, we meet again, Queen Mirelia. I wish I could say it was a pleasure." He gave her a slight bow that was very rushed.

"Chancellor Kluger," the queen spoke with icy courtesy. "I have received reports of demi-human forces massing along our border. Can you tell me the reason for this?"

"That is in response to **your** massing soldiers all along **our** border. Would **you** kindly explain the reason for it?"

 _Damn it Aultcray_ , she thought. _Your stupidity is going to start a war_! "That was a mistake which I have already mended. I have ordered my troops to return to their garrisons. I can assure you I have no hostile intentions towards Siltwelt."

"How comforting to hear," he said politely. His tail though was going even harder. "And what are your intentions towards the Shield Hero? Are they equally benign?"

Behind her fan she licked her lips. She'd been sparring with Chancellor Kluger for weeks and it had taken all of her efforts to keep him from severing diplomatic relations. He was very clever and very hostile towards her and her kingdom. When the news that her idiot husband had summoned all four of the Legendary Heroes it had very nearly sparked a war.

"I intend to give him the same treatment and support as all of the heroes who fight against the waves."

"Is that so?" He asked pleasantly. He drew out a piece of paper from one of his coat pockets and proceeded to unfold it for her. "Does that mean you intend to imprison or murder the other heroes as well?"

What the chancellor was holding out in front of her was one of the bounty posters that had been plastered all throughout the countryside. It depicted the Shield Hero with his hands wrapped around Melty's throat and a murderous look on his face. The poster declared that he had murdered royal guards and abducted the princess. A massive reward was promised for the 'Devil of the Shield' dead or alive. The queen's heart sank. How was she supposed to explain this?

"Naofumi-sama never kidnapped me! He saved me!" Melty declared.

The queen gave her daughter a sharp look and the girl immediately quieted.

"That's right!" Raphtalia stepped forward. "Naofumi-sama would never hurt a child! He saved her life from guards who tried to kill her."

Mirelia wanted to groan. She understood why the girl was defending the Shield Hero. Under different circumstances she would have applauded her loyalty. But this was only making the current situation worse.

"Who are you?" Kluger asked.

"My name is Raphtalia. I am Naofumi-sama's sword."

Beside her Firo was jumping up and down. "Firo is master's bird!"

"Bird?"

Firo transformed into a filoial queen.

Kluger blinked. "I see, so you are the Shield Lord's companions?" He gave Raphtalia and Firo a much deeper bow than he had offered the queen. "It is a very great honor to meet you. Where are the others?"

"Others?" Raphtalia asked.

"His other companions. I would like to meet them as well."

"It's only us."

"What? Well, I suppose I should be glad that at least the two of you were allowed to join his party when he was summoned."

Raphtalia opened her mouth but the queen jumped in. "Indeed, they have both been excellent companions to him." Things would only get worse if he found out they had both been acquired in a slave shop.

Kluger turned his focus back to the queen. "If he saved the second princess then why was he accused of abducting her? Why was he treated as a criminal?"

"That was due to a conspiracy by the Church of the Three Heroes." She had wanted to keep all those events a secret from the outside world, but there was no choice now. "They were responsible and have already been dealt with."

"Oh? And do they also control this country's military? I was under the impression that only the crown can mobilize the army. Or was I mistaken?"

"It was not done by my order. I am still investigating who was responsible, but they will be punished. I can promise you that."

"I, my king, and my people know just how much your promises are worth." He suddenly walked past her, Raphtalia, Firo, and Melty to the bed where Naofumi lay. He stood there and stared down at the sleeping figure. He then placed a hand to his heart and dropped to one knee. The mage who had arrived with him did the same.

Queen Mirelia got a very bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She'd just had to deal with one group of fanatics, now she had a whole different one to worry about.

Kluger and his companion got back up. His tail was flying so fast it was a blur.

"Why is our lord unconscious?! What did you do to him?"

"He was badly injured in a battle against the church. My healers have been treating him."

"Only him though!" Kluger waved at all the empty beds in the infirmary. "If this battle was so desperate where are the other heroes? Where are their companions? Why was only the Shield Lord so grievously wounded?"

 _Because all the others were useless, and he had to do most of the real fighting on his own_. Mirelia had only arrived in time to see the battle's conclusion, but she'd heard the reports. For some inexplicable reason there was vast gulf in power between the Shield Hero and the others. They had been largely ineffective and would have all been killed if not for the Shield Hero's power. She couldn't admit that though, it would look like she and the other heroes were deliberately using him.

"It was the nature of his abilities, he endured the strongest attacks in order to allow the other heroes to fight freely."

"How convenient," Kluger's tail came to a sudden stop and he took a deep breath. "Let me be blunt, the disgraceful treatment of the Shield Lord has gone on much too long and will no longer be tolerated." From a different pocket a drew out a scroll with a wax seal on it. He handed it to the queen.

She confirmed it was the seal of King Leo the Seventh and broke it. She opened the scroll and read the contents. It consisted of just one paragraph and confirmed her worst fears.

"Your country will declare war on us unless we give you the Shield Hero?"

"WHAT?!" Raphtalia drew her sword and got in a fighting stance. Beside her Firo lowered her head and readied to charge. "You are not taking him!"

"Wait. Wait, you misunderstand." Kluger motioned for calm. "In Siltwelt we worship the Church of the Shield Hero, he is our god made flesh. In Siltwelt he will be treated with the respect he deserves. We will support him in every way possible and do anything he asks of us. Everyone from his majesty to the lowest peasant will be his loyal follower!"

"It's true," the mage who had been silent up until now spoke up. "We only wish to serve him that's all. Do you really think the Shield Lord is better off here? In a country where everyone hates him?"

"Not everyone hates him," Raphtalia said. "Lots of people know what a good man he is."

"And the rest?"

Raphtalia frowned. "I can't deny there are a lot of people who hate him. Naofumi-sama was planning to go to Siltwelt. We couldn't because of how heavily guarded the border was."

"He wanted to come to us, and he wasn't allowed to?!" Kluger said in outrage. He glared at the queen. "Tell me this was **another** mistake! You **swore** the heroes would be free to visit other lands if they wanted!"

She had made that promise and would have honored it. She couldn't really blame Kluger for his anger. Either she was a queen who broke her pledges, or she was a queen who lacked the authority to keep them. Neither circumstance spoke well of her.

"Queen Mirelia of Melromarc, there are only two choices. You can allow me to bring the Shield Lord to Siltwelt with me, or you can begin a war with my country. And I think you should know that both Shildfrieden and Faubley have agreed to join us if it comes to that. After stealing all four Legendary Heroes no nation trusts you. You can of course murder or imprison me," he shrugged. "But if I do not return by sunset that will be a signal for war."

Mirelia clamped down her jaw. She was sure she could have fixed things. She could have suppressed the church, given the Shield Hero justice, and convinced the other countries to maintain the fragile peace to facilitate stopping the waves. All she'd needed was just a little more time to put her plans into action! But Altcray's stupidity had made that impossible. If she refused to hand over the Shield Hero now there would be war. A war that might not only destroy her country but cause the whole world to fall to the waves as they all killed each other. To prevent that, to give the world any hope for survival, she had to maintain the peace between the countries.

"I understand."

"What?" Melty cried. "But mother you can't!"

"It's the only way, Melty. Or do you want thousands of people to die?"

Raphtalia looked uncertain. "Naofumi-sama did want to go to Siltwelt, but I don't know if he still does."

"If the Shield Lord wishes to return to this country, we will not stop him. Though I honestly can't imagine why he would ever want to. Of course, you are both welcomes to come as well, heroic companions. I can guarantee you will be well treated." Kluger nodded to the mage.

"I am the caster of spells and master of the arcane. I have studied and deciphered the law of magic! Show me the path home! Gateway!" A seven-foot-wide circle of light appeared in the room. "Please step through. This will take us to King Leo's castle."

Raphtalia hesitated and looked back at the queen. "I am sorry, but maybe this is for the best." She went to the bed and picked Naofumi up in her arms.

Firo's head was darting between Raphtalia and Melty. "What about Mel-chan?"

"She can't come with us, Firo. Come on, Naofumi-sama needs us."

"Firo doesn't want to leave Mel-chan!"

"I know," Raphtalia sighed. She looked back at them. "Goodbye." She carried Naofumi through the circle of light.

"Ah!" Firo stared at Melty.

"It's okay Firo-chan, we'll see each other again."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

Firo stared but then nodded. "Okay then." She hurried through the circle.

Kluger turned and gave the queen a polite bow, his tail was at last calm. "Your majesty." He stepped through.

Last was the mage. As soon as she was gone the gateway blinked out of existence. 


	2. Servant of the Shield Lord

Naofumi opened his eyes. He felt perfectly normal. There was no pain from any part of his body. _I guess I survived_ , he thought. Though he didn't have any pain he did notice a heavy weight on his chest. Focusing his eyes, he saw a blonde-haired little angle girl sleeping on his chest.

"Firo! Get off me you damn bird!"

Her eyes fluttered open and she yawned. "Noisy."

"Firo. Off. Now."

"Master's awake! Firo is so happy!" She hugged him. "Firo was so worried!"

Sighing, Naofumi patted her head. "It's fine now."

"Naofumi-sama?" Raphtalia rose from a chair next to his bed. "Are you all right? The healers said that they'd healed all your wounds, but that there would still be an after effect from the curse you used."

"After effect?" Naofumi said nervously. That didn't sound good. Well he didn't seem to be injured and he wasn't in pain. He decided to pull up his stats. "Aw damn it!"

"What's the matter?"

"All my base stats have been lowered by thirty percent! The only thing that's still the same is my defense. Everything else dropped!" So, this was the cost of using Blood Sacrifice? Not only did he suffer immediate pain and injury but there was also a system penalty too? _Damn it! That move is definitely a last resort!_

"It's okay Naofumi-sama," Raphtalia assured him. "I talked to the healers and they said the after effect will wear off in about a month's time. They did all they could with their magic, the rest will have to be left to natural recovery."

"Huh, well that's a relief at least. How long until the next wave?"

"Well you've been sleeping for two days, so it should be in about two months."

"Hmmm, so I should be fully recovered by then. Well it's better than it could have been but," Naofumi muttered. "We still need to keep powering up. We need to find a way to have you and Firo class up past level forty."

Before the entire mess with Melty's attempted assassination and their becoming wanted fugitives, they'd been facing a different problem. In this world there appeared to be level caps. When you reached forty you could not progress any further. There was a way to class up and continue to acquire xp and further levels, but it required access to the Hourglass of the Dragon Era. Which, unfortunately, was under control of the king. Naofumi and his companions had been barred by royal decree, so all three of them could not go past level forty. _Bastards_ , Naofumi thought, _they expect me to risk my life fighting the waves of calamity, but they make it as hard as they can for me to get stronger._ If it weren't for a handful of decent people like Raphtalia, Firo, and the old man from the weapons shop he really might let this whole world burn.

"There's no way around it. We have to get access to one of the Hourglasses of the Dragon Era." As he said this Firo at last slid off him.

"I don't think that will be a problem, Naofumi-sama."

"Really? Did that trash king die or something? I don't see him suddenly helping us even if we did save both his daughters and the other heroes."

"Well, actually…"

Raphtalia filled him in on the events that had happened while he'd been recovering.

"We're in Siltwelt?"

Raphtalia nodded. "We are in the king's castle and are his guests. Everyone here has been treating us very well."

"I see." Now that he thought about it, he looked around at his surroundings. He was lying in an exceptionally large bed with incredibly soft sheets. All the furnishings in the room looked to of carved mahogany. There was a large bay window through which the sunlight was streaming. These were first-class accommodations. Since arriving in this world he'd been forced to spend most nights at inexpensive run-down inns. The past week they'd been forced to camp out or sleep under the stars. This was a step up. Was it really possible things were finally going to get better? He noticed Raphtalia was fidgeting a bit. "Something wrong?"

"Naofumi-sama, I know you wanted to come here, but do you think we'll be staying?"

"I don't know. I mean I haven't even met anyone yet, but it's possible. I mean if they treat me better than Melromarc did I probably will."

"Oh, I see." Raphtalia sounded a bit glum.

"Is there a problem with that?" He asked in surprise. "Given how the people there treat demi-humans I'd expect you to be thrilled to be here."

"It's not that. I think it's wonderful to be somewhere I'm treated like a person and not a thing."

"Then what's with the glum expression?"

"I'm just thinking about the nice man at the blacksmith shop and the apothecarist and the lady at the magic shop and the soldiers who fought with us during the wave and all the people of Lute village and the others we've helped."

"And Mel-chan!" Firo piped in.

Raphtalia nodded. "All those people know you're a good man and wanted to help you. Aren't we abandoning them if we stay here?"

Naofumi sighed. "I guess it could be seen that way. But honestly, I can't stop thinking about all the people who whispered about me a behind my back. Rapist. Molester. Demon. Scum. Most of the people there never gave me a chance. They hated me and wanted me to die even though it was never my choice to come here. And even if there are a few decent people back there it doesn't matter when everyone with power hates me." He began ticking points off on his fingers. "The trash king, the bitch princess, the freaking pope, the nobles, the leaders of the military." He shook his head. "If they all want to make my life hell why should I stay there?"

"But I think the queen is different! She was the one who led the reinforcements who finished off the Pope's forces. She said she was going to suppress the church and punish everyone responsible for how you were treated! Even the king and Princess Malty! She promised you would get fair treatment from now on."

Naofumi burst out laughing. "I've heard that before! When I was summoned with the other heroes the trash king welcomed us and promised all of us his help and protection. I believed him. Then he and his bitch daughter set me up and did everything they could to make me miserable and make sure I failed. And you expect me to trust that man's _wife_ to be different?"

"But Melromarc is a matriarchy. The king only rules by the queen's authority, she is the one with the power."

"So?"

Raphtalia blinked. "So, she has the power to set things right. Naofumi-sama, why not at least give her a chance?"

He shook his head. "You want me to trust her? Seriously? I've got absolutely no reason to do that."

"But she came to fight the Pope with you and the other heroes."

"Sure, _after_ the church tried to murder her daughter. The Pope wanted to replace the royal family and rule the country as a theocracy. Any ruler is going to act when their throne and children are in serious danger. She didn't do it for my sake."

"I suppose that's true, but she told me how much she regretted what you were put through and that she planned to fix things."

"Raphtalia, I've been in this world for four months now. If she gave a damn, where was she? She only put in an appearance when her own ass was on the line. That right there should tell you I'm not a priority. Maybe she's not as bad as her trash husband or her bitch daughter. That doesn't mean she is going to side with me and turn against them. She did nothing for four months but now suddenly she's going to wade in and change everything? For me?" He shook his head again. "Believing that is just naïve."

"You never got the chance to meet with her, Naofumi-sama. If you did, I'm sure you would see what a strong and moral person she is."

"Maybe but what are the odds? Isn't it a lot more likely she just fooled you and told you what you wanted to hear? She is the bitch's mother after all. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

"You can't just assume she is like her daughter."

"Why not?"

"Mel-chan is nice!" Firo declared.

"She's also still a little girl. You can't tell what sort of person she'll grow into."

Firo crossed her arms and pouted.

"I really believe if we went back things would be better," Raphtalia said.

"I gave that country a chance and all they did was abuse me. Let's give this place a chance now." She opened her mouth to argue. "I promise if they are as bad or worse, we can go back, and I can meet this queen. There are bound to be lots of good people here too, right? The waves don't only effect one place. So, there are people here who need help too."

She sighed. "I guess that's true."

"Good, I'm glad you agree."

XXX

About a quarter of an hour later a nurse came by to check on Naofumi. As soon as she saw he was up she excused herself. A few minutes later Chancellor Kluger arrived. He stood before Naofumi, placed hand to his heart, and fell to one knee. His eyes were cast down as he spoke.

"Shield Lord, it is my greatest joy to see you well. I am Chancellor Kluger von Runstadt, on behalf of my king I formally welcome you to the nation of Siltwelt. Anything you desire shall be provided to you."

Naofumi felt uncomfortable. "Shield Lord?"

"That's how everyone who worships in the Church of the Shield Hero refer to you," Raphtalia said.

"I see, please lift your eyes. I don't need any fancy titles. I'm just an otaku from Japan. My name is Iwatani Naofumi."

Kluger looked up but remained on one knee. "As you wish, Naofumi-dono."

"Just Naofumi is fine."

Kluger shook his head. "One does not address one's lord and savior in such a familiar manner."

Naofumi rubbed the back of his neck. This treatment was weirding him out. _Does he think I'm the Buddha or something?_ "Look, I'm not sure what you think, but I'm just an ordinary guy."

Kluger nodded. "Yes, I have studied the divine scriptures. You were a mortal man from a world called 'Japan' and summoned here to save the world from the waves of calamity. But the moment the Holy Shield judged you worthy you were transformed into the physical manifestation of our god."

"Oh boy," he muttered beneath his breath. The Pope had proclaimed himself to be a god. Naofumi was under no such delusions. His lack of a social life back home was proof enough of that.

Kluger at last rose to his feet. "Naofumi-done the king and the nobility have assembled to meet you. If you feel up to it, would you attend a royal audience?"

"Sure," _Well if nothing else this should at least go better than the last one._

Kluger led him, Raphtalia, and Firo through the halls of the castle. Whenever they passed a servant or a guard, they immediately knelt to him. Kluger led them to the throne room, a vast columned hall about forty yards long. Inside were perhaps three to four hundred people, all very well dressed and all of them not human. Some had a human appearance along with animal ears or horns and a tail. Some appeared to be more like animals who just happened to wear clothes and stand on their hind legs. So far as he could tell the split was about 50 / 50. All the faces turned to him and stared in silence. At the far end of the hall a figure sat on a throne of gilded bones.

Kluger whispered in his ear. "Please go before the throne and present yourself."

Not seeing any alternative, he nodded and began to walk down the aisle with Raphtalia and Firo on either side. Their footsteps echoed clearly on the stone floor. There was not a whisper to be heard, the hallway was silent as a tomb. Naofumi could feel all the eyes locked on him. It took all the nerve he could muster to just keep moving forward.

Sitting on the throne in front of him was a man with a lion's face and mane. A jeweled crown sat atop his head and he was draped in purple. The king watched him with the same unspoken intensity as everyone else.

He came to a halt ten feet in front of the throne, Raphtalia and Firo did the same. Since he hadn't gotten any other instructions, he spoke introducing himself.

"I am Iwatani Naofumi, the Shield Hero. These are my companions Raphtalia and Firo. Thank you for inviting me here and giving me your hospitality. We are in your care."

The lion rose up out of his throne stepped down from his dais. He placed a hand on his heart and fell to one knee while lowering eyes. As one, everyone else in the throne room did the same.

"I am King Leo Jaeger, seventh king of that name. Be welcomed into my home and my nation, Shield Lord. All that I have is yours. Command me and I shall obey. I am servant to the Shield Lord."

Once that was said every other throat repeated, " **I am the servant of the Shield Lord**."

Naofumi stared at all the people surrounding him down on one knee and refusing to so much as look up.

 _What have I gotten myself into?_


	3. Queen's justice

When Queen Mirelia returned to her castle that morning it was less of a homecoming than it was a small-scale invasion. She stormed in at the head of a miniature army of knights and magic casters. The heroes and their companions were also present, but they brought up the rear. The guards were startled to see her and her entourage. She hadn't sent word she was coming. The queen was informed that Aultcray was in the throne room so that was where she headed. When she and her people burst through the doors the king was startled, but the instant he recognized her he smiled.

"My queen! You've finally returned! Melty! I am so glad you are… wait, why is Malty in chains?!"

"I am the queen who commands the origin of power. I have read and deciphered a law of nature. Imprison him with ice. **Ice Prison**."

Instantly King Aultcray found himself within a cage of ice. The guards in the throne room were all startled, but as the queen had the ultimate authority none of them acted.

"What?! My queen what is the meaning of this?!"

"You're under arrest, the charge is treason." She turned to some of her knights. "Gag him and take him to one of the cells. Do the same with Malty. Then send riders to every noble house in this city with a summons. They are to attend a trial this evening and bear witness to the queen's justice."

"What!" A dumbfounded Aultcray cried out. "Treason? My queen I would never betray you! Who told you such a thing? Whatever was said to you was a lie!"

"We'll see."

As his cage was carried away, he begged his wife to listen to him, but she turned a deaf ear.

XXX

The trial began at sunset. It was held in the same courtyard where Naofumi had been forced to duel Motoyasu. Up in the gallery the noblemen and women were nervous. A number of wild rumors had been flying through the city; they were about to be attacked by Siltwelt, the shield devil had murdered the second princess, he had murdered both princesses, the Pope had killed the shield devil, the three true heroes had killed the shield devil, the shield devil had somehow murdered the pope. That last one was easily the most terrifying rumor of all. What added to the confusion were reports and sightings of priests, nuns, and holy knights being arrested here in the capitol. And then there'd been a royal summons to attend this trial of King Aultcray and Princess Malty! What was going on? So, as they waited for the trial to begin, they shifted about nervously and whispered to one another. More rumors were spread, wild guesses were made, and people tried to calm their fears.

As the sun dipped beneath the horizon it began. Aultcray and Malty were hauled out to the center of the courtyard, both of them under heavy guard with iron collars and chained manacles. The King's crown was nowhere to be seen. Princess Malty had been stripped of her sword and expensive armor and was wearing a plain dress. On both of their chests slave seals could be clearly seen. This was deliberate as such seals could be made invisible until activated. The queen obviously wanted everyone to know just how far the two of them had fallen.

Horns blew as the queen entered the royal box. At her side was Princess Melty and behind her were the three heroes along with the queen's attendants. No one in the gallery thought it odd the shield devil was not present. If he had been _that_ would have seemed the most bizarre circumstance of all. Upon the queen's arrival Aultcray and Malty were forced down on their knees. The king made no effort to fight this but Malty screamed at the guards to take their hands off of her as she promised she would remember their faces.

As Queen Mirelia spoke her voice carried to the back rafters. "Before we begin the trial, I must make an important announcement. The Pope of the Three Heroes Church, and his supporters attempted to assassinate both the royal princesses as well as all four of the Legendary Heroes. He intended to stage a coup and usurp my authority as lawful monarch of Melromarc. He and many of his followers were killed in battle against the four heroes. Many more who supported his treasonous actions have been placed under arrest. I have ordered all those who will acknowledge the Shield Hero as equal to the Sword Hero, Bow Hero, and Spear Hero be granted mercy. Those who refuse shall be put to death."

Gasps could be heard throughout the gallery. A week before the Pope had been the second most important person in the kingdom. The nobility and public in general believed him to a truly good and righteous man. Nearly all of them were followers of the Three Heroes faith. Many would not describe themselves as devout, but they were believers. The queen regretted the harshness of her actions, as many in the clergy had been genuinely faithful to their beliefs and done much good for the common people. However, it was exactly because of this single-minded devotion that she could not spare anyone who refused to accept the Shield Hero as one of the four. Fanatics were simply too dangerous to be spared. Even if it was cruel, it was better for the security of her country and people to be rid of them.

"Given these actions the Church of the Three Heroes is hereby declared a heretical organization and outlawed. Any who persist in the tenets of this faith shall be declared heretics and subject to immediate execution. All church lands and properties are hereby confiscated, and I declare the faith of the Four Heroes to be the official religion of Melromarc."

No one in the stands dared to speak any objection, though this was the religious doctrine they had followed their entire lives.

"Now then, we will begin the trial and determine the guilt or innocence of the accused."

"Mother!" Malty howled as she got back on her feet. "Why am I here? I was the victim! How can you accuse me of treason? It's insane!"

"It's true, my queen," Aultcray also stood back up. Unlike his daughter he was solemn and calm as he spoke. "Neither of us would ever commit treason against you."

"That's right! Release us this instant!"

"You think you are innocent?" The queen replied with a frosty tone. "We will see. If you are proven guiltless then I will apologize to you and admit my mistake. I think I should make you aware though that the seals I have placed on you will activate if you speak a lie. They are also set to continuously punish you until you admit the truth. Do you understand?"

"I do," Aultcray said

"Are you saying you won't believe your own daughter? I never lie!"

Instantly the seal on her chest sparked and energy course through her body. Princess Malty staggered and howled.

"I lie! I lie! Everyone lies sometimes!"

The seal went dormant and the pain stopped. She bent over and could be heard gasping for breath. Standing in the royal box the queen showed not one hint of sympathy.

"If you wish to avoid that pain then I suggest you answer every question truthfully. Let us start at the very beginning, Aultcray, I ordered you to maintain the peace and follow the international consensus. Why did you not only perform the holy ritual but summon all four heroes?"

The king lowered his head and spoke. "The pope told me it was best for Melromarc, that by summoning all four we would give our people the best possible chance to survive the waves."

"Do you understand that by doing so you very nearly started a war? You broke my word and now no other nation trusts us."

"My duty was to you and this country, not to the rest of the world."

"How noble. Was it also out of nobility that you deliberately cast false accusations on the Shield Hero?"

"The Shield devil is evil!"

"That was not an answer. Answer my question."

"I did it to protect our people. The Pope explained to me that the devil would be handsome and have a pleasing manner. That many people might be fooled by him. In order to protect the innocent, it was necessary to reveal his true nature to all."

His seal did not activate. He honestly believed every word he'd spoken.

"Malty, did the Shield Hero rape you?"

"Yes, he did!" Energy sparked and she howled even louder than before. "He did! He did!" Lightning crackled and continued entering her body

In the royal box Motoyasu jumped to his feet. "Stop this!"

Two knights drew their swords and barred his way to the queen. Motoyasu glared at them both but did not try to push past. "How can you do this to Mein?"

"I am doing nothing, Spear Hero, save searching for the truth," the queen didn't bother to look back at him. "She is the one causing her own pain and she is the only one who can end it."

She held out for perhaps half a minute before dropping to her knees and screaming. "Fine! He never raped me! He never even touched me!" The electricity vanished.

Motoyasu blanched. "It's not true, no way."

Ren came over and patted his shoulder.

The queen did not pause her interrogation. "Aultcray, when you punished the Shield Hero, did you know Malty's accusation was false?"

"The Shield Devil is evil! I know he's evil!"

"Answer my question."

The king swallowed. "I knew."

"So, you deliberately condemned an innocent man and destroyed his reputation?"

"He is not innocent!" His seal sparked to sudden life and he cried out. "Very well! He was innocent of this crime!" The sparks stopped.

"Following the second wave you compelled the Shield Hero to duel the Spear Hero in order to liberate the slave demi-human who was his only party member. Why?"

The king licked his lips. "He couldn't be executed because it would have led to war with Siltwelt, but I didn't want him to gain levels and become a greater threat."

"I assume that is the same reason you denied him and his party access to the Hourglass of the Dragon Era?"

"It is."

"Do you understand how stupid that was?" Her calm demeanor began to fray as she let some of her frustration peek through. "The prophesies say that only the Legendary Heroes can defeat the waves of calamity! By trying to keep one of the four heroes weak and underpowered you are helping to end the world!"

"No! It was nothing like that! I was just trying to limit how much harm he could do."

"And were you hoping he might die in one of the waves?"

"If it happened, I would not weep."

"No, not until the world was consumed by chaos and disaster. But by then it would be too late. Why can't you understand that the heroes are our only hope for salvation?"

"The three true heroes will be enough."

"Are you willing to bet the entire world on that?"

He clamped his jaw and stared up at her.

"I won't demand you answer, as I think your answer obvious. Did you conspire with the church to assassinate Melty?"

"What?" He appeared to be genuinely shocked by the accusation. "No! I would never hurt my child! I love her and would give my life to keep her safe!" The seal was dormant.

Though she did not show it, the queen was relieved to know her husband had not let his hatred push him that far. There might still be hope he could be redeemed. Eventually.

"What about you, Malty? Did you conspire to have you sister murdered?"

Malty licked her lips and paused. "I knew nothing about it until after the attempt was made. I never raised a hand to hurt Melty."

The queen glared down at her eldest daughter. "What a careful and deliberate answer that is. Tell me, when you _did_ learn the church wanted to kill her did you make any effort to protect your sister? Did you inform your father or the Spear Hero who the real threat was and that the Shield Hero was innocent?"

She licked her lips again and her eyes darted about as if searching for an avenue of escape. Her father was looking at her with mounting horror.

"Answer me."

"I didn't know the church was going to betray me or that the Pope had gone insane."

"Answer the question."

"I'm not in the wrong, mother! I'm the victim here!" Tears began to flow down her cheeks. "How can you be so cruel to your own child?"

"Malty, you will answer the question, or I will have you executed here on the spot." She motioned with a hand and two guards drew their swords. A collective gasp ran through the crowd.

The tears stopped flowing and Malty bore her teeth. She threw back her hair and spoke defiantly. "No, I didn't help her! Why should I? It would have made me an enemy of the church. Besides, I am the next queen. She is just a spare. The kingdom doesn't need her."

"Sister," Melty let out a sob.

Aultcray stared at her as if he'd never seen this person before in his life.

Motoyasu buried his head in his hands. Both Ren and Itsuki patted his shoulders and spoke encouragement.

"I think I have heard enough. I will now judge you. You are both guilty of numerous crimes. I disown you and strip you of your royal status."

Aultcray dropped his head and looked utterly defeated.

"You can't do that, mother! How will this country survive without me to lead it?"

"That's no longer your concern, Melty will be the next queen. You have other things to worry about. Aultcray, though you disobeyed my commands and nearly caused a disaster I will take into consideration your past service to this country as a Seven Star Hero. Though you are no longer king or an advisor to the crown, I will permit you to remain in my service. If you can give up your hate and find the wisdom you once had, you may be able to redeem yourself in my eyes."

"I understand, my queen." He spoke in a weary voice and bowed his head.

Beside him Malty was still standing tall and defiant, her rage obvious.

"You have no place within this county any longer. I strip you of all your possessions, properties, and titles. I banish you. Within seven days you must be gone from the borders of Melromarc. If you should be found in this country after that time you will be killed immediately. I will make one exception, if any of the heroes wishes you to be in their party, I will allow you to remain in this country for so long as you fight beside them."

"Hell no!" Motoyasu yelled. "I want nothing to do with this lying bitch!"

"Motoyasu! You can't abandon me! Please, I love you!" The seal activated and she cried out in pain.

"Wow," Itsuki said.

"No kidding," Ren agreed.

"Fine!" Malty yelled. "I don't love him! I just think he's fun and good in bed!" The sparks stopped.

Motoyasu hung his head in shame.

The queen turned back to look at the heroes. "Would either of you..?"

"Yeah right," Ren said.

"Not a chance," Itsuki said.

"Then this matter is closed. Guards remove this person from the castle grounds. Pay for travel to any destination she desires and give her seven days' worth of food and water." And with that the queen began to leave the box.

"I HATE YOU!" Malty screamed at the top of her lungs. "I'll never forgive you!"

The queen paid her no mind.


	4. Admirable restraint

"You should never have been summoned to Melromarc," Kluger said. "It was agreed in an international conference the order in which the Holy Summons would be performed. We were third and would have summoned you. This is where you were always meant to arrive, Naofumi-dono."

"Huh?"

Following the introduction to the royal court and nobility a huge feast was held in his honor. Musicians were playing and there were whole tables piled high with delicious food. Firo was in heaven, that gluttonous bird was running from table to table stuffing her mouth. Raphtalia was currently surrounded by a while crowd of nobles. Being a companion to the Shield Lord, everyone wanted to talk to her and hear about their adventures.

Naofumi had received even greater attention, though the people here tended to keep their distance and simply stare at him. It seemed most felt intimidated and were not about to walk up to him and introduce themselves. It seriously felt like he was an object of worship, or maybe a cult leader. He was definitely not just a hero to these people.

Naofumi understood that this level of reverence was NOT normal, even for a Legendary Hero. He'd seen how the other three had been treated by the public and nobility in Melromarc. While they were all loved and admired, it was more on the level of a celebrity. They were the equivalent of rock stars or movie idols. They absolutely got special treatment and rewards just for being who they were, but there wasn't any kind of religious hysteria attached. The way people were looking at him here he might as well have been able to turn water into wine. Having just dealt with the Three Heroes Pope who'd actually proclaimed himself a god, Naofumi did not enjoy this undeserved reverence.

It was still infinitly better than the treatment he'd gotten from the trash king and most of the people of Melromarc. He just wished there could be some kind of happy medium where he wasn't seen as a criminal or a religious icon. Naofumi wasn't sure what to do though, he didn't want to say or act in a way that would offend people. How do you go from savior and living god to just a good guy trying to help people? Was it even possible?

Eventually he was approached by the fox guy who'd brought him to the throne room. This was Chancellor Kluger who ran the day to day affairs of the kingdom. According to Raphtalia he'd been the one to bring him here. Apparently, his status was high enough that he could approach him and have a normal conversation.

"Naofumi-dono, I realize all this must be very strange for you. Given the despicable treatment you received from those savages. Please feel free to ask me about anything. I am at your service."

The first thing he had asked was if it had just been bad luck that the four heroes had been summoned where they were. That was when Kluger dropped a bomb shell.

"What are you talking about?" Naofumi asked.

"When the first wave of calamity struck an international conference was held. There it was agreed that the Legendary Heroes would be summoned and the order in which they would be summoned. Siltwelt was to be third in that order and Melromarc fourth. According to the ancient prophesies only the Legendary Heroes can defeat the waves and prevent the end of the world. By tradition the most powerful countries are the ones to perform the Holy Summons. Since, after all, they are the ones best able to support and aid the heroes once they arrive. Each nation is supposed to summon **one** hero. What Melromarc did violated our agreement and was completely unprecedented."

"So, the only reason I was stuck in a country where I was seen as the devil was because that trash king decided to ignore everyone else and just do what he wanted?"

"That is correct."

Naofumi would never have thought it possible to be even more pissed off at that piece of shit. But to discover he hadn't even had the right to do what he did made it a hundred times worse. It was bad enough getting summoned to this world against his will and then having false charges of rape destroy his life. Now it turned out that trash king never even had the right to summon all four of them! _If he hated my guts why did he summon me in the first place?!_

"That worthless king, I wish he were dead. Him and that red headed whore too."

"I understand," Kluger nodded.

Naofumi was glad the man wasn't telling him he should be more forgiving the way Raphtalia would. Sometimes a guy just needed to vent.

"The waves have visited this world five times, and you are the fifth incarnation of the Shield Lord. We believe in you Naofumi-dono and know that you will save us."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll do my best, but I'm really nothing special."

Kluger shook his head. "I understand that you were a mortal man once, but the Shield judged you worthy. The moment you arrived in this world you became the living embodiment of our god."

"I'm pretty sure gods wouldn't have trouble killing a balloon," he said. "I guess you have so much faith in me because the previous Shield Heroes helped demi-humans and beastmen?"

Kluger frowned and ran a finger beneath his nose. "Ah, actually those terms, please don't use them to describe the people who live here. They are human inventions and we don't care for them. Those the humans would refer to as demi-human, such as myself or your companion Raphtalia, are known as fair folk. What they would call beastmen, such as his majesty, are known as true folk."

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to offend."

"It is not a problem, Naofumi-dono."

He wondered why Raphtalia had never mentioned that to him.

"But yes, it is true that the previous incarnations always supported our people. Without the original Shield Lord's protection, we would not have survived."

"Really?" Well if they really did owe their survival as a race to the first Shield Hero then it was sort of understandable why they treated him like a savior.

"If you like I can provide you a copy of the holy scriptures. They record the feats and words of the previous four incarnations."

"Sure, I'd appreciate that." Ever since coming to this world he'd been kept ignorant of things the other three heroes seemed to take for granted. Anything that could provide him useful information was worth having.

"And of course, your exploits will be written down as well. It will be the fifth book of the holy scriptures, the Book of Naofumi."

"Uh, great," he tried to force a smile.

From outside the castle came the sound of a 'Bang.' Everyone present began to hurry towards the windows.

"Oh, it's begun," Kluger said.

"What? Is this an attack?"

"Nothing of the sort, Naofumi-dono." He motioned for Naofumi to follow.

The chancellor led him to a row of wide windows. The people standing there parted to let them through. Outside, fireworks of every color were exploding and filling the night sky with light.

"So pretty!" He heard Firo shout.

"The entire country is celebrating your arrival," Kluger told him. "The people rejoice to know their savior walks among them again."

Naofumi nodded and looked at the display. This was a world apart from the treatment he'd gotten before. The way they saw him, and their expectations worried him, but it was still good to be welcomed with such open arms.

XXX

After the fireworks the chancellor introduced him to some of the people who were there, including the Crown Prince, three Grand Dukes, and the High Priest of the Church of the Shield. All of whom asked how they could be of service to him. The High Priest told him that there was indeed an Hourglass of the Dragon Era within the city, and that it was of course available to his party members. So that was one problem solved right there. All three Grand Dukes invited him to be a guest in their castle and accept their hospitality. The Crown Prince assured him that all the resources of the nation were at his disposal. The most powerful men in this country were bending over backwards to give him whatever he wanted. It was a whole lot better than having them be out to get him.

The welcoming feast lasted late into the night, but when it finally wrapped up Kluger was escorting him back to his quarters. As he did so it suddenly occurred to him that he hadn't checked hi levels. When he did so he discovered he was level forty- two, while Raphtalia and Firo were still stuck at forty with a star next to their names. Before the battle with the Pope he'd been at level thirty-nine. Apparently in this world heroes were excluded from the level cap system. _I gained three entire levels just from killing the Pope? I guess in game terms he would have been a boss monster. I probably also got more xp since I was the one with the killing blow._

"If it's possible," Naofumi said. "I'd like to start grinding to get more levels as soon as I can. I was always stuck behind the other heroes, so I have a lot of ground to make up."

"Of course," Kluger said. "Tomorrow we will give you all the support and aid you need and then recommend the best hunting grounds for dangerous monsters."

Naofumi nodded. It didn't seem he'd have to worry about earning a living anymore. Being a peddler and crafting medicines for people had been very worthwhile, but it had also consumed a lot of time. Time that could have been spent leveling up. If all his needs were going to be met, then he could focus solely on getting stronger and preparing to fight the waves. Speaking of which…

"What can you tell me about the waves of calamity? I was brought here to fight them, but no one ever bothered to explain to me exactly what they are." A lot of things had been left unexplained.

"The waves are an enigma. No one knows that causes them. As I have explained before they have visited this world four times and if they are not defeated, they can bring on the apocalypse. The waves will appear in different locations throughout the world delivering undead and different sorts of monsters. These will remain behind even after the wave ends, and their number will increase for as long as the wave endures. Each wave is connected to a 'boss' monster. Until that boss is defeated the wave will not end. When the boss monster is killed the wave in all locations will end. There is no set number of appearances. In the past there have been 17, 26, 21, and 19 waves. But I can tell you the boss monsters will grow more and more powerful up until the final event. When the final wave is halted the Legendary Weapons vanish and it is possible to return the heroes to their original worlds."

"Wait a minute! The time between waves is months! If I have to fight twenty or more that'll take years!"

"That is correct."

So, he was going to spend years trapped here?! Not only that but it sounded like he was never going to be able to stop grinding and gaining levels. If each boss monster was more powerful than the last, then it would never be safe to stop and take it easy. He wondered if the other heroes knew about this. Maybe they did and didn't care. After all, it seemed they all saw this as a game. Telling a game otaku he would get to spend years playing a hero in the most immersive game ever might not sound bad at all.

That was what he was thinking of when he opened the door to his quarters. "What the-?!"

Inside were about twenty women of all shapes and sizes; cat girls, dog girls, bunny girls, wolf girls, and fox girls. There were girls with huge breasts standing next to lolis with a range of body types running the gambit. They were wearing bikinis, lingerie, leather dominatrix outfits, a couple were completely naked, and the two lolis were wearing what looked like school girl uniforms.

He turned a panicked face to Kluger. "What is this?"

"Your harem, Naofumi-dono," He answered calm as could be. "They are here to satisfy your every desire so please don't hold back. Also, please try and impregnate as many of them as possible, for a woman of our race there can be no higher honor than to give birth to our god's progeny. If any of them are not to your taste just inform us and we'll replace them with girls who are more suitable."

Naofumi stared at him with his jaw hanging open.

Raphtalia rushed to the doorway and half pulled her sword out of its scabbard. Her tail was lashing back and forth.

"Naofumi-sama is not a disgusting playboy! He doesn't need any of these women!"

"Is that so? The lord prefers to only share his body with his companion?" Kluger bowed to him. "I admire your restraint, Naofumi-dono."

"What are you talking about?! I would never force myself on Raphtalia! She's like a daughter to me."

"Eh?!

"Besides, she doesn't have any interest in that sort of thing."

"EH?!"

"I see. In that case," Kluger glanced at Firo.

"Don't be disgusting!"

"Boo!" Firo said.

"I see." Kluger paused and rubbed his chin. "Well we can certainly find some handsome young men for you instead. It is a shame there won't be any children, but we are at your service."

"…"

XXX

The girls were eventually sent on their way and Naofumi got to sleep. Though Raphtalia did bar the door just in case.


	5. Class up

The next morning when Naofumi awoke it was with Firo curled up on his chest and an already awake Raphtalia doing pushups in the corner. There were servants already waiting outside the door to lead them to where a hearty breakfast would be served. When they were about done Kluger arrived.

"Today we will be supplying you with all your needs. If you are ready, Naofumi-dono, we can begin with giving you funds."

"Sounds good."

The chancellor led Naofumi and his companions to the royal treasury. A full squad of armed guards stood watch and the steel door was magically sealed. The chancellor spoke the words of a spell and the door unsealed and swung open. Within was a large room filled with chests. Several had their lids popped open and were crammed with either gold or silver coins.

"This is the collected wealth of our country. Take as much of it as you wish."

Naofumi's eyes widened and he couldn't quite keep from drooling. He started rubbing his hands together.

"Naofumi-sama, you've got a weird look on your face."

"Is master okay? It looks like he's under a spell."

He turned to the chancellor. "What if I wanted all of it?"

Kluger bowed to him. "We would give it to you, however I would ask you not to do that as it would immediately bankrupt the kingdom and lead to an economic collapse."

"Noafumi-sama! How much money do you need?! We couldn't even carry it all!"

"Firo can carry it! Firo is strong! Just make a big wagon."

Naofumi shook his head and wiped the drool from his mouth. Since arriving in this world he'd struggled with acquiring money. He'd learned to be a ruthless negotiator who always tried to squeeze out every last copper. But Raphtalia was right, there were limits to how much money he could spend. Even so…

"I can come back here any time I want and take more, right?"

"Naofumi-sama!"

Kluger nodded. "You have unlimited access to the wealth of the nation. Simply inform me or the Master of Scales and we will unseal the vault."

"Okay then, how about a thousand gold coins? Oh, and let me get five hundred silver ones too. There are a lot of small villages and towns where they might not be able to make change for gold."

In Melromarc the most he'd ever seen the trash king hand out at one time was four thousand silver coins to that asshole Motoyasu. A hundred silver coins made up one gold one, so the sum Motoyasu had gotten was the equivalent of just forty gold coins. Naofumi had gotten to understand the value of money in this world quite well. He would estimate that one gold coin would be worth roughly ten thousand dollars in the world he came from. So, he'd be taking with him the equivalent of more than ten million dollars.

 _Yeah,_ he thought. _I don't think I'll need to peddle again any time soon._

XXX

With Firo carrying three very heavy sacks they left the castle and made their way to the main temple where the Hourglass of the Dragon Era was. As soon as they were out in public all the people they passed stopped and openly stared in their direction. Those who were on the same side of the street quickly moved out of the way while offering bows. No one actually approached them. They instead kept their distance while pointing and excitedly whispering to one another. More than a few dropped to their knees and began to pray. This reminded him of how things had been early on in Melromarc (minus the praying). Few people had ever had the guts to confront him face to face, but everyone had kept their distance and whispered behind his back. Even knowing things were different, the behavior still brought up some unpleasant memories.

Raphtalia might have sensed he was uncomfortable. She reached out and took a hold of his hand. When he looked over and saw her tender smile he relaxed. So long as he had her nothing could ever be that bad.

When they arrived at the temple the High Priest and all the local clergy were waiting. A choir was singing a song that sounded suspiciously like an opening from Full Metal Alchemist. The High Priest was a ram beastman (true folk). He bowed low with a hand placed over his heart.

"Welcome, my lord. How may I be of service to you?"

"I'd like access to the Hourglass of the Dragon Era so that Raphtalia and Firo can class up."

"Certainly, please come with me."

"As long as I'm here I'd also like to get some high-quality holy water too."

"It will be provided to you, my lord."

The priests and nuns all wore thin chains about their necks with medallions in the shape of his base shield. It was the opposite of the what the Church of Three Heroes had used. They'd had medallions that were a combination of bow, sword, and spear.

"I haven't asked this before, but how do you feel about the other three heroes?"

The High Priest smiled benevolently. "We see them as necessary to defeat the waves of calamity. We acknowledge that as great as our lord is, he will still need help to save our world. Therefore, we would tolerate their existence, but we have no illusions that they are friends of the fair folk or true folk. They are a necessary evil, nothing more."

"Huh, well that's still better than thinking they're devils and trying to kill them just for existing."

"You should not trust them, my lord. By their very natures they are deceitful beings and they will be envious of your greatness."

"Well, it's not as if they ever made any effort to help me. Motoyasu was a complete ass who went out of his way to try and screw me. I'll fight beside them for the sake of stopping the waves, and if they're willing to share information, I'll do the same. Beyond that though I don't plan to do more."

He'd made a promise to Fitoria, the alpha queen of the Filolials. He'd promised he would cooperate with the other heroes and work together with them. He would keep that promise, but only where the waves were concerned. If there were going to be anything more than that then it was on those three jerks to initiate things. His promise didn't mean he had to be friends with them or go out of his way for their sake. They would receive the exact same degree of cooperation as they offered.

When they reached the Hourglass, he found it was an exact duplicate of the one in Melromarc. He went ahead and checked the timer.

 **55:07: 32: 41**

So, he had a little less than two months to go until the fourth wave arrived. Not bad. With any luck he and his companions could level up quite a but before then.

"Please let one of the candidates who wishes to receive the blessing of 'class up' approach the Hourglass and touch it. That will begin the process."

"Isn't there a charge for this?"

The High Priest placed a hand on his heart and bowed low. "Ordinary adventurers would be asked to contribute five gold coins. But we would never ask any such thing of our lord or the noble companions who serve him. It is our greatest joy to be able to serve you."

"Well, if that's how you feel I certainly wouldn't want to offend you."

Raphtalia gave him an accusing look but didn't say anything.

"Firo, go up to the Hourglass and touch it."

The little blonde loli did as she was told. As soon as she made physical contact a screen popped up in Naofumi's view.

 **Class up is now available for party member filoial queen Firo. Do you wish to accept?**

 **[ YES ] [ NO ]**

 _Is this because I have a slave seal on Firo?_ He concentrated on 'NO' and the message vanished.

"Master! It says Firo can class up!"

"That's fine, Firo. You can pick whatever option you want. You decide what you want to be."

"Yay! Firo wants to spit poison!"

"Of course, you do," Naofumi mumbled. He turned to Raphtalia. "You can decide what you want too."

Raphtalia shook her head. "I'm sure whatever Naofumi-sama wants will be fine."

"No," he said firmly. "When all this is over, I'm going to return to my world. Whatever you decide now will affect you for the rest of your life. I want you to choose your own future."

Her face paled. "You're going to leave?"

"When the waves are over, yes. I want to go home one day."

"Is… Is that because there is someone special waiting for you there?"

"No, there isn't. But it's where I belong."

Raphtalia looked like she wanted to ask something else, but Firo let out a loud squawk. "Wha?!"

A new menu popped up showing that all Firo's stats along with her level now being at forty-one. "Oh! Good choice Firo, all your stats have doubled."

"They have?" The High Priest gasped. "Incredible! The increase is usually in the neighborhood of twenty-five to thirty percent. Fifty is considered exceptional. To have a one hundred percent boost is near miraculous! You are truly amazing, lord!"

Since he didn't know the effect of a slave seal connecting to the Shield Naofumi could only assume that was the reason. "All right Raphtalia, it's your turn now."

"Understood."

As she approached the Hourglass Firo shuffled away with a confused look on her face. As soon as Raphtalia pressed her hand to it Naofumi got the same popup. He again selected 'NO.' Raphtalia was then staring into eh space in front of her, Naofumi assumed it was at the different options open to her.

"What?" Raphtalia said.

Another message popped up in front of Naofumi. "Well that was quick. Oh! Your stats all doubled too. Nice job."

"But I didn't select anything," Raphtalia said.

"Firo too," she whined. "Firo wanted to spit poison!"

"What are you talking about?" Naofumi asked.

"A lot of options appeared," Raphtalia said. "But before I could choose one it was like the system just did it for me."

"Firo too!"

Now that he stopped and really focused… was a lock of Firo's hair glowing slightly? Fitoria had stuck one of her feathers atop Firo's head as a 'gift.' Was it possible she had somehow overridden the class up controls in order to decide what would be chosen?

"It's divine intervention!" The Hight Priest said with certainty.

Naofumi couldn't be certain Fitoria had done this, but it didn't look as if you could redo the class up once it was complete. "Well… the results are probably as good as they could possible be, so I guess there's no point in worrying about it."

"But Firo wants to spit poison!" She began crying.

"If you stop crying, I promise to cook you something."

"Okay!" The tears instantly vanished.

Naofumi sighed. "There's something I want to ask you."

"Yes?" The High Priest replied.

"In this world is resurrection possible? I've fought undead during the waves and even faced a zombie dragon. In the world I come from magic and monsters don't exist, so a lot of what I see day to day here is already miraculous from my point of view. So, I want to know if it's possible to bring someone who has died back to life."

Experiences points, levels, spells, cool down times, status menus, magical weapons… there was no denying that this world ran on game mechanics. The other three heroes were all convinced that this world _was_ a game and that was how they treated it. In a game death wasn't the end. For players it was just an inconvenience. Naofumi didn't believed that applied. He'd struggled and seen the worst of this place. He didn't have any illusions that he was untouchable or that this world was designed just for him, Still, a lot of things about this place had surprised him so he might as well ask.

The High Priest immediately shook his head. "Zombies and undead are an abomination. Truly gifted healers can treat almost anything short of death itself, even Black Plague, even mortal injuries. Lost limbs can be reattached or regenerated. Sight can be restored to the blind. There is a high-level spell called 'Stasis' that can hold a person on the brink of death and keep them alive until they can be treated. But once a living person dies, no mortal magic can return them to true life. In this world true resurrection does not exist. Dead is dead." His eyes seemed to shine as he stared at Naofumi. "At least where mortals are concerned. I am sure a god can work miracles."

Naofumi smiled back uncomfortably and didn't say more. This was just confirmation of what he'd believed since coming here. This world was real life, not a game, and if you died that was it. He wondered if the other three idiots had figured that much out.

XXX

Naofumi was given five doses of high-quality Holy Water. If he was forced to use the cursed shields again, he would be able to immediately treat Raphtalia or Firo if they were hurt.

"Please return at any time my lord. Your church is always at your service."

As they were leaving a young mother called out to him. She was holding up a baby and pleading with him to give her child a blessing. Naofumi pretended not to hear and picked up his pace until it was just short of a sprint.


	6. Different tasks

Their next stop was the city's largest weapons shop.

"It fits you wonderfully, my lord!" The shop's owner declared proudly. The owner was a stout badger beastman (true folk) who was only five feet tall but had arms that looked like they were made of wrought iron. His triangular shaped head was nodding up and down.

Raphtalia had insisted on coming here to look for better armor for him. She said since he'd been so badly hurt he needed to upgrade his equipment. Naofumi had pointed out that the only reason he'd gotten so severely injured had been because of casting Blood Sacrifice. Nothing the Pope or his minions had thrown at him had broken past his defenses and dealt any damage. His defensive power was starting to get kind of ungodly, especially if he relied on the Curse Series.

Raphtalia though was having none of it. So Naofumi had meekly asked what kind of armor the shop had available. What he was currently wearing was dragon scale armor. It was made of black scales and covered his torso and arms. It was surprisingly light, and he had full mobility with it. It also seemed to have a higher defensive rating than the barbarian armor the old man had made for him. He felt a little guilty replacing the armor the old man had crafted for him from scratch, but this wasn't a game. It was real life and if this new armor improved his chances for survival by even a fraction of a percentage point then he couldn't ignore that.

"You look so cool, Naofumi-sama!" Raphtalia had clasped her hands together and he had the impression her eyes were sparkling.

 _Crap_ , he thought. _Now I really have to take it_.

"Boo!" Firo said with a pout. "Why does master need to wear a dragon? Dragons are dumb!"

"Firo," Raphtalia chided. "Don't be like that. This armor will help keep Naofumi-sama safe. It doesn't matter where it comes from."

Firo continued to pout. "It still looks dumb."

"It's the best armor I have available that doesn't use plate mail," the giant badger said.

"Plate's too bulky and makes me clumsy," Naofumi said. "So how much?"

"Five hundred silver coins."

Naofumi's instincts kicked in and he gulped. "Do you think I can get a discount?"

"Naofumi-sama!"

"What? It's a lot!"

Raphtalia crossed her arms and sent him a flat stare. He'd gotten a thousand gold coins from the treasury and five hundred silver ones to _use as change_!

The giant badger placed a hand to his heart and bowed to him. "My lord, please forgive me. That price is with a discount, I would regularly charge seven hundred. I am a follower, but I also need to run my business."

"Yeah, I guess that is fair." He handed over five gold coins. "Raphtalia, as long as we're here see if there's anything you want."

She nodded and had immediately headed over to where the various swords were stocked. Her enthusiasm reminded him of seeing young girls at the local mall. The fact she was so eager to look at weapons instead of shoes or purses told you everything you needed to know about what life had been like for her.

As she began to inspect the different swords she noticed a curved blade hanging up on the wall locked behind a glass case. The case appeared to have some enchantments cast on it. "What's this?"

"You have a good eye," the owner came over to her. "This is a one of a kind katana known as the Stone Cutter. It has a special enchantment on it and legends claim it was used to cut a mountain in half." He took a key out from his work belt. "I usually don't allow anyone to touch it, but I'll make an exception for a companion of the Shield Lord."

Naofumi was curious and came over to have a look. The shield translated language for him, and he had heard the sword described as 'katana.' Seeing it, the weapon did indeed look like one. It was a long slim blade with a slight curve to it. Taking it from the badger Raphtalia put it through a number of practice swings.

"It's so light!" She exclaimed. "But I get the feel it has real striking power!" She sliced the air several more times with a wide grin on her face.

"Do you want it?" Naofumi asked.

Raphtalia stopped and gave the sword a close look, then shook her head. "Eh, not really. I mean it's nice but nothing that special."

As she said these words Raphtalia seemed to be completely unaware of the fact her tail was wagging like mad.

Naofumi turned to the owner. "How much?"

"It's a family heirloom and a one of a kind weapon. Normally I wouldn't part with it for any amount. But," he placed a hand to his heart and fell to one knee. "If this blade will aid the Shield Lord in saving the world I can't imagine a better use for it. I would ask a hundred gold coins."

"I said I didn't want it!" Raphtalia shouted.

Naofumi ignored her and counted out a hundred gold coins and handed them over without hesitation.

XXX

When they left the weapons shop Naofumi was wearing his new armor and Raphtalia was clutching her new sword to her chest.

"Why?" She asked. "It cost a hundred gold coins!"

He looked at her in surprise. "So what? You're more precious to me than a million gold coins. I'd spend everything I had if it helped keep you safe."

"N… Naofumi-sama," she whispered and felt her face get hot and her heart begin to thrum inside her chest.

"Are you feeling all right? Your face turned red. You haven't got a fever, do you?"

"I'm fine," she insisted.

Firo picked that moment to run up to Naofumi's side and latch onto his arm. "Master! Firo is hungry! Master promised to cook for Firo!"

"Yeah, yeah I remember."

The street they were passing had several food stalls and small shops. He stopped at one of the stalls that was selling skewered meat. Naofumi asked the startled vendor if he could use his facilities to make some food and offered the man five silver coins in compensation. The flabbergasted dog man immediately agreed and stood aside. Naofumi went into the little stall and took out ten skewers with raw meat. He rubbed salt, pepper, and few other seasonings onto the food and then placed them over the grill. Honestly, he didn't know more than the basics of cooking. Back home he'd rarely made anything more complicated that a sandwich or cup of instant ramen for himself. The reason his food tasted so good in this world was due entirely to the bonuses he got from his shield.

It didn't take that long to cook everything, but in that time a crowd gathered to stare as their god made flesh worked over an open flame. He made one skewer for himself, one for Raphtalia, and eight for that greedy glutton of a bird.

"Master's cooking is soooooo good!" Even in her loli form Firo devoured her food with terrifying speed and efficiency.

"It's true," Raphtalia said wasting no time with her meal either. "Your cooking really is better than anything else I have ever tasted."

They finished their food and left, the crowd parting to let them go. Naofumi had not take five steps before he heard the vendor shouting.

"Come eat at the grill blessed by the Shield Lord!"

Immediately a hundred voices answered demanding food.

 _Damn it!_ Naofumi thought. _Instead of paying him I should have charged for advertising!_

Having completed all the tasks, they'd set out to do they were now headed back to the castle.

That was when he spotted the first human slaves he'd ever seen. They were two young men probably still teenagers. He doubted either of them could be any older than his younger brother. They had iron collars and were wearing grey rags. He noticed both were bare footed. They were unloading a wagon under the supervision of a squirrel girl. No one was making any kind of fuss about it. The people walking past didn't even stop to look at them. Human slaves were obviously a very common sight here.

He suddenly wondered how all these kind people who were bowing to him and swearing their loyalty to him would act if he changed his shield to the book shield. Would they still be so kind? Probably everyone would just assume he was a combat slave and Raphtalia was his owner.

 _I can't save everyone,_ he reminded himself. _I can't solve all of this shitty world's problems. All I can do is try and stop the waves and make it back home someday._ He averted his eyes and picked up his pace.

XXX

Chancellor Kluger welcomed them back. "Did everything go as you hoped, Naofumi-dono?"

"It was fine."

"Good, good, if you would come with me there are some people I would like you to meet."

"More nobles?"

"No, not quite."

Kluger led him to a large a parlor. There were three figures waiting for them. The moment they arrived all three placed hands over their hearts and fell to one knee.

" **I am the servant of the Shield Lord."** They proclaimed.

Naofumi saw that two of them were beastmen (true folk). One had a dog face and was wearing the full plate armor of a knight. The second looked exactly like a minotaur out of an RPG. He was bare chested and wearing fur breeches with a massive battle axe slung over his back. Third and last was a demi human (fair folk) bunny girl with gold and silver robes over what looked like a leather corset and mini skirt. Kneeling like she was Naofumi couldn't avoid getting a clear view of her rather impressive cleavage. He also saw her thighs were thick in the best possible way.

Standing next to him Raphtalia noticed where his eyes were pointing, and her ears began to twitch.

Naofumi turned to Kluger. "Ah, what is this?"

"These are your new companions, Naofumi-dono."


	7. The new companions

"New comrades?" Naofumi said in surprise.

Kluger nodded. "The optimal number of members in the party system is six. You can have more than that, but one you do you will begin to suffer xp penalties. Since you already have two companions his majesty commanded me to select the three best suited to assist you in increasing your level and fighting in the wave itself. Hundreds of adventurers volunteered, these are the three I chose for you. If any of them prove unsatisfactory there are others ready to take their place immediately."

Naofumi stared at the three people who were still kneeling before him. _Can I really trust them?_ Was the first thought to run through his mind. As soon as he thought that he shook his head and scolded himself. These people weren't part of the Three Heroes Church. They weren't part of some vast conspiracy out to ruin his life. These three were volunteers who wanted to help him stop the waves. _Even if it's sort of scary I think I need to show a little bit of trust. A little bit._

"Please stand up, it's a pleasure to meet you all." The three of them jumped to both feet. "I am Iwatani Naofumi, the Shield Hero. This is Raphtalia and Firo, I really hope we can all work well together and be a great party."

"I hope so as well, my lord." The knight said.

Naofumi held up a hand. "Ah, it's just Naofumi."

The knight nodded. "As you wish, Naofumi-dono."

Naofumi sighed, he supposed he would have to accept the honorific. Kluger insisted on using it too.

"I am Sir Roland Greywatch, a royal knight." Roland bowed his head. "I pledge to give my life for you."

"Uhm, hopefully it doesn't come to that. I'll do everything I possibly can to protect all of you and keep you safe. If it's all right could you tell me your level and your magical affinity?"

"Yes, Naofumi-dono, I am level sixty-five, and my affinity is Speed."

"I am Groo of the North Plain Tribe," the minotaur said thumping his chest. "I am the greatest warrior of my tribe and level seventy. I am one with the Earth. I swear to cut down all your enemies Naofumi-dono! No one can handle an axe like me!"

Naofumi nodded and turned his attention to the bunny girl. Her black leather corset showed off her belly as well as her cleavage. Her mini-skirt only went from her hips to the top of her thighs. Her gold and silver cloak was tied about her shoulders and left most of her enticing body on open display. Though standing she leaned forward a bit, giving him a little better view of what her corset was struggling to contain. She grinned and her bunny ears were quivering.

"My name is Cassandra Hase, though people like to call me the Crazy Bunny. I am level fifty-one and a master of Fire magic. My body is at your service, Naofumi-dono." She gave him a wink. "Please do anything you like with me and I do mean anything."

"Uh…" Naofumi's face began to redden. This girl was way, way too much. After everything that had happened with the bitch princess he really didn't trust woman anymore. Especially not the ones who were blatantly using their sex appeal on him. On the other hand, well, he was still a virgin. And this girl was crazy stupid hot! He wasn't quite sure what to say here.

Raphtalia stepped forward and slid partially in front of Naofumi. "Why is your level so much lower than the others?"

Cassandra's eyebrows rose. "Fifty-one isn't low, I am a classed-up fire mage and one of the strongest spell casters in this country."

"That's very true," Kluger said. "Most adventurers never class up. The ones who do form a tiny elite. So, anyone above level forty is considered quite special."

"Then why are both of them so much higher than she is?"

"I fought in all the major battles in the war with Melromarc when I was young," Roland said. "In the years since I traveled the world on quests trying to help people and slay dangerous monsters."

Groo slapped his chest. "I spent six years fighting in the arena in Zeltoble! Most who try it don't survive three months!"

Kluger nodded. "It's not a case of Cassandra being lacking. Rather it's a matter of Roland and Groo being truly exceptional even among classed up adventurers."

"Besides," Cassandra said with a teasing grin. "I've got plenty of other things going for me besides my level."

Raphtalia's tail flattened out and went stiff. Naofumi thought he heard a 'grrrr' sound coming from her.

Naofumi coughed into his hand and drew everyone's attention back to him. "Listen, I am truly glad that you want to be my companions. I've been alone and know just how important it is to have people who are willing to help you. This shield gives me the power to protect people and I promise I will do everything I can to protect each of you. So, let's all do our best to get stronger and to defeat the waves."

"I could not agree more," Roland said.

"Damn right," Groo said.

"Sounds good to me," Cassandra said.

Naofumi nodded in satisfaction. "Good, then if it's ok with everyone, I'd like to make the three of you my slaves."

"…" Four stunned faces stared back at him.

"Hey master," Firo said. "Why are all their mouths hanging open like that?"


	8. Unclear explanations

Roland, Groo, Cassandra, and Kluger were all gaping at him.

"Huh, maybe that came out a little wrong," Naofumi said.

"Was that a joke, Naofumi-dono?" Kluger asked.

"No, I'm being serious. I really would like the three of you to be my slaves." Naofumi smiled and tried to be reassuring. "It would not only be for my benefit but yours as well."

"Groo is no man's slave!" The minotaur shouted.

Kluger stepped forward motioning for calm. "I think there's been some sort of misunderstanding."

"Actually-" Naofumi began but stopped when Raphtalia put a hand on his arm and shook her head.

"Naofumi-sama, please don't say anything else that will make this worse." Raphatalia stepped forward. "I know very well how horrible slavery can be. I've had multiple masters, and most of them were monstrous. But Naofumi-sama is nothing like that. He cured my sickness and gave me hot meals to eat. He was never once cruel to me and gave me my life's purpose. Despite how he may seem at times, Naofumi-sama has a very kind heart and is a good man. It's because of him that I am the person I am now."

Naofumi expected Raphtalia's words to get a reaction from everyone. It did, but not the sort he was hoping for.

"Are you saying," Kluger spoke slowly and deliberately. "That you are the Shield Lord's slave?"

"That's right." She hesitated but unbuttoned the top of her blouse just enough to reveal her slave crest.

The four of them looked at each other in confusion and discomfort.

"Look, I get that having slaves isn't something to be proud of," Naofumi said. "But it's legal here the same way it was in Melromarc. I only made Raphtalia my slave because I had no other choice. I needed someone to fight for me and no one would do it willingly. So, getting a slave was the only way."

"That's right," Raphtalia confirmed.

"But for the Shield Lord to make one of the fair folk his slave!" Roland shook his head.

"Why did you not mention this before?" Kluger demanded.

"I wasn't trying to keep it a secret," Naofumi said. He was surprised by the change in attitude. The chancellor had been nothing but helpful up until now. "It's common knowledge in Melromarc. In fact, the trash king actually forced me into a duel against the spear hero just to have an excuse to remove her seal."

"Wait!" Roland said. "Her seal was removed? And you forced it back on her?!"

"No one forced me!" Raphtalia said. "I chose to have it replaced as a sign of my faith and trust in Naofumi-sama."

"A slave in love with her master," Cassandra rolled her eyes. "How cliché."

Raphtalia glared at the bunny girl.

"Who else have you told about this?" Kluger asked. "I don't mean in Melromarc, any stories coming from there can be denied. Have you told anyone here about having a fair folk slave?"

"No, it's the first time its come up."

"Then maybe we can manage the situation," he turned to the three companions. "This matter is a state secret. You will speak of it to **no one** , under pain of death. Do you understand?"

Three heads nodded.

"Wait a minute," Naofumi said. "Why are you acting like this is a big deal? I get that it may be unsavory, but I've seen slaves working right out in the open. Why are you acting like it's a crime?"

"I will presume the slaves you saw were human," Kluger said. "In Siltwelt it most certainly IS a crime to place a slave crest on any member of the fair or true folk. But there is a much greater issue at stake here. Naofumi-dono you are, literally, the physical manifestation of our **god**. Every follow of the Church of the Shield Hero worships you and believes you will bring us salvation, not only from the waves of catastrophe but from our mortal sins. The followers have complete and total faith in you, or rather in the deity you represent. Now. What do you think would happen to the fundamental beliefs of all those people if they learned their lord and savior had turned one of his people into a slave?"

When Naofumi stopped and thought about it in those terms he could understand the problem. It would be sort of like a Buddhist learning the Buddha was a serial killer or something.

"Fortunately, this can be solved," Kluger said. "Any stories coming from Melromarc will be summarily dismissed as enemy propaganda and lies. We can remove the slave seal from your companion, once that's done there will be no evidence to the contrary. No one here will speak of this ever again. That should be enough to ensure the faithful never question you, Naofumi-dono."

"I can't agree to that," Naofumi said. "My shield grants a major experience bonus to anyone who is my slave. Thanks to that both Raphtalia and Firo have been able to level up a lot quicker than would be normal. They're also a lot stronger than the companions of the other three heroes. That's too much of an advantage to just throw away. If none of you are willing to be my slaves then of course I respect that. But Raphtalia is going to stay my slave no matter what."

"I also refuse to have the seal removed," Raphtalia said.

"Firo too! Master is staying Firo's master!"

"No one cares about putting a seal on a monster," Kluger muttered.

"Naofumi-dono, please reconsider," Roland pleaded. "Slavery is a crime against civilization itself! It is wicked and cruel to treat a person as property."

Naofumi frowned. "So, you're against keeping humans as slaves too then, right?"

The royal knight gave a brusque shake of his head. "Humans are a different matter. The fair and true folk are blessed with gifts no lowly human could ever hope to acquire. They are not people the way we are."

"You do realize what race I belong to?"

"You were born on a different world and the Shield judged you worthy. The Shield grants you divinity. Your body is human but the soul inhabiting it is divine. The humans born of this world can make none of those claims."

"What it sounds like to me is that you don't have a problem with slavery, just so long as you are on the right side if the leash."

"Naofumi-dono," Kluger began but Naofumi rode over him.

"Raphtalia's slave crest was forcibly removed once, it's not happening again. If she ever _wants_ it removed it will be, but not otherwise. The advantages of it are way too good to just pass up. I need to get as strong as I possibly can to stop the waves and save the world, and that applies to everyone working with me. I will use every tool available to get stronger. I don't want to cause trouble so I won't talk about this, and neither will Raphtalia and Firo."

He gave the loli a look and she nodded. "Yes."

"But I'm also not throwing away this advantage just because it would upset people." He took a deep breath. "If you don't want to accept a slave crest I won't try to force you, but please at least consider it. It will make you stronger, and I will swear to you that if you want to remove it then I'll remove it."

Roland crossed his arms over his chest. "And would you use it to force us to act against our will?"

"No. The only times I have ever activated the slave seal was to compel Raphtalia to fight when she was too scared to."

"That's true," Raphtalia said. "Naofumi-sama have never forced me to do anything I didn't want to, never."

Naofumi nodded. "If you agree to take the crest I'll have the settings so that it will only activate in the case of a direct attack. I won't use it to force you to do anything or randomly punish you because I feel like it. I give you my word."

The three companions looked at one another.

Groo stepped forwards and slammed a fist into his palm. "Groo won't be a slave! Groo will live and die free!"

Cassandra was grinning. "So, if I'm your slave does that if I'm a bad girl I'll get spanked?"

Naofumi's face began to redden.

"Well, as your friend pointed out, I need to get more levels. I'll put my faith in you, Naofumi-dono. I'll be your slave."

"You serious?" Roland asked.

"Hey, I did say he could do whatever he liked with my body," she laughed a bit at the expression on Naofumi's face as she said that. "Seriously though, I am willing to die for the Shield Lord. If I'm already willing to put my life in his hands, why hold back? If I'm in, I'm in all the way."

Roland blew a breath out between his teeth. "I have pledged to give my life to the Shield Lord. I suppose I will pledge my freedom as well. If it will help me grow stronger I will accept the slave seal."

Groo looked at the two of them. "Groo thinks you're both idiots."

XXX

In Melromarc Castle the queen sat down at a table with the other three heroes.

"Thank you for agreeing to this meeting."

Motoyasu was slumped in his seat and looking disinterested. Ren and Itsuki appeared more attentive.

"I'm happy to meet with you, your majesty." Ren said. "What exactly did you want to discuss?"

"I am hoping that I can assist you in becoming stronger."

"What did you have in mind?" Itsuki asked.

"To begin with, I was wondering if the three of you could exchange information with each other."

The three heroes all glanced at one another.

"I'm not sure what that would accomplish," Itsuki said.

"Due to the nature of the Legendary Weapons each of you has been adventuring on your own. With the exception of the battle against the Three Heroes Church and the encounters with the Waves you have not spent much time together. It's possible you have individually discovered things that could prove useful to your fellow heroes. Why not discuss your experiences with each other and compare notes?"

All three of them were silent.

"Knowledge is something for players to earn on their own, not just given away for free." Ren said.

The queen frowned. "Ren-sama, why do you refer to yourselves as players?"

"Because that's what we are," Ren said with a shrug. "I understand you don't have the same perspective since you're a native of this world, but we're special. The normal rules don't apply to us."

Both Itsuki and Motoyasu nodded at this.

The queen continued to frown. "Forgive me, but that statement doesn't make things clearer to me. You are indeed special, you are the Legendary Heroes. But what precisely do you mean the rules do not apply to you?"

"It means we lead a blessed existence," Itsuki said. "No matter what happens we are destined to always win."

"Exactly," Ren agreed.

Mirelia snapped open her fan and used it to cover up what had to be a look of confusion. Blessed existence? Destined to always win? What were they talking about?

"Pardon me, but were the three of you not defeated during the third wave event?"

"That didn't count," Motoyasu said with a disinterested voice.

"Why is that?"

"You're not going to win every single encounter. If you lose you just go back to the save point and try again," Motoyasu explained. "Since we don't have save points we just wake up in the hospital instead."

She'd asked for this meeting in the hopes of learning how she could best help the heroes get stronger. But the more they talked the more it was having the opposite effect.

"Motoyasu-sama, you and your companions woke up in that hospital because the Shield Hero defeated your enemy and you were brought there by the royal guard. There was nothing miraculous about it. Had Naofumi-sama also been defeated you would have all perished."

The three of them shook their heads at the same instant.

"We have divine protection," Ren said.

"That's right," Motoyasu said. "It's not like we can actually die or anything."

"You believe you are immortal?!"

"As far as the game goes, sure," Motoyasu said

"Why do you keep referring to fighting the waves as a game?"

"She's not going to get it," Motoyasu said still slumped in his chair. "She's an NPC, she can't understand."

"What is an NPC?"

This drew a bit of laughter from them. While Mirelia was confounded by this conversation she was an expert at reading body language and at non-verbal communication. It was painfully obvious that the heroes were mocking her and saw themselves as greatly superior.

"Heroes, I am trying to find the best means to aid you in growing stronger. This is of critical importance."

"What do you mean?" Ren asked. "We're already really powerful and getting better with every encounter."

"Then please explain to me who was most responsible for defeating the Pope? Was it not the Shield Hero?"

"That doesn't count," Motoyasu said. "Naofumi obviously used a cheat."

"A cheat?"

"He must have come across a unique item or event that gave him an exclusive one-time boost. There is no other way his lame ass shield could have been that powerful," Motoyasu explained. "If one of us had run into this item or event we would have gotten the exact same effect. Actually, it would probably have been even bigger since our weapons are way more impressive."

"He's right," Ren nodded. "That's the only explanation."

"I think Naofumi met god," Itsuki said.

The queen stared from behind her fan. "What god?" All the major religions of this world were based on some combination of the Legendary Heroes that saved them from the waves. The young men sitting in front of her were literally gods. It was a very depressing thought.

Itsuki shrugged. "I don't know the specifics, I was never lucky enough to encounter him myself. But other players told me it was a possible event."

"Do you think one of us could still meet him?" Ren asked.

"Maybe," Itsuki said.

It was almost as if they were speaking a language that only the three of them understood. No, it was more like they belonged to a cult whose rules and rituals they alone were privy to.

"Heroes let me see if I understand correctly. You cannot share information because you do not view doing so as proper etiquette. The laws of nature and the physical world do not apply to you because this world is a vast game. You are immortal thanks to divine protection. And the key to gaining significantly more strength is encountering a god that none of you have ever met but that others have. Is this accurate?"

"Pretty much," Ren said.

"Yes, that sums it up," Itsuki said.

"That's about right," Motoyasu said.

Were they all insane?! What nonsense were they spewing? Did they really believe it was impossible for them to die or that they could meet some random unnamed god who would reward them with more power? More than ever she wished she could have talked to the Shield Hero. Maybe he would have been just as mad, but from her reports he had seemed the most grounded and sensible of all the heroes. What would he have had to say about all this?

Well, perhaps a future meeting was still possible, but that had nothing to do with the here and now. She had wanted to try and impress upon the heroes that they needed to get stronger. That their actions up until now had been unfocused and they were beginning to lag dangerously behind their potential enemies. Unfortunately, she didn't see any way to get through to them. It was obvious they would be dismissive of her concerns. It seemed the only way she could actually assist them was to give them chance to gain more xp and levels.

"Heroes, I have been informed that Carmia Island is set to awaken. I would like to send you and your companions there to gain experience."

All three of them shouted excitedly and were eager to go.

 _I will also send an invitation to the Shield Hero. Maybe I can arrange that meeting with him after all._


	9. The new party

Kluger summoned a pudgy female wizard with black and white ears atop her head. Raphtalia informed Naofumi that she was the one who had transported them all the way from Melromarc castle to here. Kluger introduced her as the court mage Asrial Hodson.

She immediately placed a hand to her heart and bowed. "Please forgive me, Shield Lord. I wanted to fight beside you as well. His majesty forbade it."

"Her magical abilities are vital to this country's defenses," Kluger said.

 _Which means that even though this king at least is sincere in wanting to help me_ , Naofumi thought. _There are still some things that are a higher priority._

"Not a problem. Thank you for helping us come here."

Kluger explained the situation and swore Asrial to secrecy. She was every bit as shocked as the others had been but agreed to do what was needed. She placed advanced slave seals on both Roland and Cassandra.

"These will be invisible unless you their… master activates them or wishes to make them visible. I will need some of your blood."

"No problem, I've done this before."

"…"

Naofumi took a paring knife and sliced open his thumb, letting a few drops fall into the tray with the ink. Asrial took a brush and smeared the ink across Roland's and then Cassandra's seals. Both times the seals sparked, and the recipient grunted in pain. Naofumi's screen showed both appearing as new slaves and party members. He immediately set the condition of both seals to only activate if he were to be directly attacked. He then sent Groo a party invitation. The minotaur grunted and accepted. Naofumi now had six members in his party with himself designated the party leader. Raphtalia and Firo were both still at level forty, but there was no longer a star next to their names.

"It's done," Asrial said with a clear lack of enthusiasm. The seals promptly vanished.

That was when Naofumi noticed his shield reacting to the tray with the remaining ink. "Can I have that?"

"Ah, certainly."

Naofumi took the tray from her and eagerly poured the ink into the gem on his shield. It must have been a different variety than what the slave trader had used. A message immediately appeared.

 **The requirement for Slave Shield 3 has been unlocked.**

 **Slave Shield 3**

Equipment Bonus: Increase Slave experience 30% Unmastered

Equipment Bonus: Increase Slave statistics 10% Unmastered

The stat bonus was a new feature, the first two slave shields hadn't included it. With the bonuses from the previous versions his slaves would get a 60% boost to all their experience. Naofumi immediately told everyone the good news.

"That's great, Naofumi-sama!" Raphtalia said.

"Yeah, master! Great!" Firo pumped a fist in the air.

"How wonderful," Asrial said with a distinct lack of enthusiasm.

Cassandra shrugged. "Well as long as we've got the things we might as well get as much use out of them as we can." She turned to Groo. "You sure you don't want to get in on this, big guy?"

The minotaur snorted. "Groo still says you're both idiots."

"All of you remember," Kluger spoke up. "You will not speak of this to anyone. Not your mother, your brother, or your best friend lying on his death bed. NO ONE outside this room learns about this."

Heads all nodded, including Naofumi's.

"So, I guess it's time for us to go out and start grinding levels," Naofumi said. "Does anyone know some good hunting grounds?"

"The swamps of Dagobah," Groo said. "It's filled with monsters and wild beasts and there are no people living there. You go there you fight and fight and fight."

"Sounds perfect."

"It's about six days from here by wagon," Roland said.

"That will not be a problem." Asrial began casting a spell. "I am the caster of spells and master of the arcane. I have studied and deciphered the laws of magic! Show me the path I seek! Gateway!" A seven-foot-wide circle of light appeared. "This will take you near the swamp." From her belt she removed what appeared to be a metal stake with a fist sized crystal ball on top of it. She handed it to Naofumi. "When you are ready to return plant this in the ground and I will open a gateway home. I can only open them to places I have visited, but this guidon will act as a locator and allow me to open it even in a place I've never been. Please remember to take it with you before you return. It's very difficult to make and I only have the one."

"Asrial is a level ninety-five spell caster," Kluger announced with pride. "She is the only mage we know of who can use the gateway spell."

Naofumi took the guidon from her and put it safely in his pack. "Thank you, this will be a huge help."

She placed a hand to her heart and bowed. "I am servant to the Shield Lord."

With that the six of them walked through the circle. As soon as they were gone Asrial terminated the spell and the circle blinked out. The court mage turned a worried face to the chancellor.

"To think the Shield Lord would use his people as slaves!"

"Never forget that he is only partially a god," Kluger said. "The rest of him is still human. We have to be understanding if our lord has flaws."

"This isn't bad table manners or him burping! He's violating one of our most sacred laws. What will the king say about this?"

Kluger turned to her and spoke in a low voice. "Nothing, because his majesty is never going to find out."

"What?! That's treason!"

Kluger spoke calmly, keeping his voice subdued. "If his majesty finds out he will tell his advisors. If he tells his advisors, some of them will tell the High Priest and the Dukes and others. If he High Priest finds out he will speak of it to the Bishops. If the dukes find out they will tell their own advisors. How many people would that be? Fifty? Sixty? A hundred? How could the secret possibly be kept at that point? No. To prevent the public from finding out about this we must not tell his majesty."

Asrial paled. She knew what Kluger said was true. His majesty did rely on his advisors and his advisors' loyalties were to more than just the crown. But even so…

"Keeping secrets from his majesty, especially about the Shield Lord, is treason."

"I know. But if committing treason is the only way to safeguard the kingdom and the people, isn't it the right thing to do?" He placed a hand over his heart. "I am servant to the Shield Lord."

Asrial took a long and deliberate breath before matching the gesture. "I am servant to the Shield Lord."

XXX

Apparently Asrial had never actually visited the swamps themselves. The gateway deposited them just outside a tiny village called Mud Flats that was about ten miles from the edge of the swamp. The locals all stared wide eyed as Naofumi and party headed out.

Before they even reached the swamp they were attacked by small shuffling masses of green, brown, and yellow moss. Apparently these were about the equivalent of the balloons that had infested the woods near Melromarc castle. Raphtalia and he others dispatched them without comment. Roland, Groo, and Cassandra were all surprised when he asked them all to wait as he put samples of the moss into his shield.

 **The requirement for Green Moss Shield has been unlocked.**

 **The requirement for Brown Moss Shield has been unlocked.**

 **The requirement for Yellow Moss Shield has been unlocked.**

 **Green Moss Shield**

Equipment Bonus: Herbal Knowledge +1 Unmastered

 **Brown Moss Shield**

Equipment Bonus: Herbal Knowledge +1 Unmastered

 **Yellow Moss Shield**

Equipment Bonus: Medicinal Recipes Basic Unmastered

"Are they even worth the effort to absorb, Naofumi-dono?" Roland asked. "Mosses are about as weak as any monster you'll find."

"Every little bit helps," Naofumi told him. "The equipment bonuses they give me stack up. I won't turn my nose up at anything my shield reacts to."

Naofumi had also noticed the effects when it came to xp. When Raphtalia, Firo, Roland, or Cassandra killed a Green Moss they received 8 xp, he received 3 xp, and everyone else but Groo got 2. Groo would get 1. When Groo killed a Green Moss he got 5 xp, Naofumi 2 and everyone else 1.

As they continued they kept getting attacked my minor monsters and animals. There were rats, toadstools, foot long dragonflies, a wide variety of snakes, green, blue, and red poison frogs as big as a sheep, wild birds, snapping turtles, lizards, and one carnivorous snail. All this before reaching the actual swamp.

Naofumi was pleased. The experience points weren't enough to really worry about. Even with all the creatures they killed no one gained a single level. However, all these creatures were ones he'd never encountered before. He was able to unlock fifteen new shields and gain bonuses ranging from defense and poison resistance to basic camouflage. As he had said earlier, every little bit would help.

The first real fight came later in the day when they were knee deep in swamp muck struggling through a mangrove. A hydra as big as an elephant emerged in front of them and perhaps twenty alligators surrounded them. Five snake heads were snapping as the hydra charged.

Naofumi rushed forward to meet it. He had the chimeric viper shield active. "I'll draw its attack!"

A pair of snake heads tried to bite him. One slammed into his shield and bounced off. The other tried to bite into his shoulder, but its fangs could not even scratch his armor. Behind him he heard chants.

"I am a royal knight. I have studied and deciphered the laws of nature. Let me move with great speed. Haste!"

"Groo is the mighty Groo! Groo has studied and deciphered the laws of nature. Mother earth guard and protect me. Stone skin!"

"I am the Crazy Bunny. I have studied and deciphered the laws of magic. Let my enemies die in flame! Stream of fire!"

"I am the Shield Hero's sword. I have studied and deciphered the laws of nature. Blind my enemies! Blazing light!"

Bright light filled the air. The hydra's heads all hissed and the one trying to bite Naofumi let go and retracted. A stream of fire flew above him and struck two of the hydra's heads, making them burn like torches. Naofumi saw a momentary blur and two other heads were chopped clean off, falling as the necks spurted out a stream of blood. Groo thundered past, his skin grey and stony, his huge battle axe in both hands held high. He swung down and buried it deep inside the Hydra's chest, causing a fresh spray of blood. Groo yanked it back out and started swinging, hacking off chunks from the monster. As he did so the last remaining head tried to bite him. Naofumi saw the fangs break off.

From his peripheral vision Naofumi saw Firo stomping on alligators hard enough to squish them like worms and send their guts flying. He saw Raphtalia killing them as well, driving her sword into their skulls or slicing open their necks.

The two hydra heads that were still burning were hanging limp from their necks. The two that had been chopped off were no longer bleeding, but the stumps were splitting in two and he could see new heads starting to sprout.

"Oh no you don't," Cassandra called out. "I am the Crazy Bunny. I have studied and deciphered the laws of magic. Strike all my enemies down! Flame arrows!"

About a dozen small steaks of fire lanced out. They hit the still growing stumps as well as the last remaining full head. The ends of all the necks were now burning as Groo kept chopping. The huge body stumbled and then crashed over on its side. Naofumi saw Cassandra get 8,000 xp so he assumed hers was the killing blow. With he hydra down everyone concentrated on the alligators who were quickly dispatched.

Though it had felt a lot longer the entire fight had probably lasted less than two minutes. Naofumi was sure if he had encountered this with just him, Raphtalia, and Firo they would have won. But it wouldn't have been this quick.

Roland was no longer a blur. He was now standing in front of him, his armor caked in blood and pieces of meat, his sword clean. "Well, what do you think, Naofumi-dono?"

"I think, we will make a great team." Reaching down he picked up one of the severed heads and fed it to his shield.

 **The requirement for Hydra Shield has been unlocked.**

 **Hydra Shield**

Equipment Bonus: Defense +2 Unmastered

Equipment Bonus: Poison Resistance Medium Unmastered

Equipment Bonus: Regeneration Advanced Unmastered

He smiled.

XXX

Three days had passed, and the Shield Lord and party were still out in Dagobah leveling up. Kluger trusted everything was going well. He and his country were committed to doing everything possible to help the Shield Lord grow stronger so that he could defeat the wave.

He was in his office when a royal messenger arrived. He had with him a formal diplomatic message from the Kingdom of Melromarc. His interest piques the chancellor opened it. He saw it was a formal invitation from Queen Mirelia for the Shield Hero and his companions to attend the awakening of Camria Island. Every ten years all sort of powerful monsters would awaken and become active in almost countless numbers. The awakening was an event that drew adventurers from all over the world as it was a unique chance to gain a mountain of experience within a short period of time. The message also stated the other Legendary Heroes would be attending as she herself would. She requested to meet with him so they could exchange information and establish a friendship.

"Friendship my furry ass!" Kluger ripped the message to shreds. There was no need to bother the Shield Lord with this nonsense. Camria Island would indeed provide a lot of experience, but the Shield Lord would manage just fine without it.


	10. The benefits of being a slave

It had been five days since they'd entered the swamps of Dagobah. When Groo had said they could fight and fight and fight here he had not been exaggerating. At the moment the six of them were camped out on a small island of solid, if muddy ground. This little patch of earth was about twenty yards long and maybe eight yards across at the widest point. The edges of this little swamp island were piled high with the corpses of various monsters. It really did seem that _everything_ in this swamp wanted to kill you, including the plants. Naofumi could understand why there were no settlements of any kind here. Alligators, crocodiles, snakes (both giant and regular size), poison frogs, and monster lizards made up the majority of the corpses. Naofumi had long since fed the hide, meat, and bone of all those creatures into his shield and unlocked new variants. He'd didn't know how many new shields he'd gotten, he'd stopped counting at sixty, but this place had been an absolute treasure trove. Almost every single monster they encountered had been new to him. That meant new shields with new bonuses. His shield had also reacted to a lot of the plants here, even ones that didn't attack them. Anything that got a reaction was promptly fed into the shield's gem. Along with the treasure trove of monster parts that could be sold off, he'd also found lots of rare medicinal plants and had unlocked intermediary recipes for them. He could never imagine gaining so much in just five days!

And he wasn't the only one benefitting. He pulled up the party roster and checked the levels:

Naofumi - **51**

Roland – **72**

Groo – **72**

Cassandra – **61**

Raphtalia – **53**

Firo – **55**

Everyone but Roland and Groo had gained at least ten levels, with Firo having gained fifteen! Just like in an RPG the higher the level the more raw xp required to meet it. So, leveling up in the 70's took a lot more than in the 40's. At this rate they would probably all be in the 70's before long. When they'd originally set out Roland had been five levels below Groo, who'd had the most levels among anyone in the party. Now they were even, and Roland would leave him behind. The way things were going Raphtalia, Firo, and Cassandra would probably surpass him before long. Naofumi thought he would too, though that would probably take longer since he never delivered any killing blows.

THIS was why he'd wanted to give everyone slave seals. Those who wore them got a sixty percent boost to xp received. Their base stats also got a small boost. Groo had been just as busy as anyone else, he was just pure murder with that massive axe of his. Even so he'd only gained two levels. The bonuses from his slave shields were an incredible advantage that was plain to see. He could understand why Kluger and the others objected to the idea, but he was not tossing away these benefits for any reason. His overriding priority was to get stronger to fight the wave, everything else took a back seat. If people were unhappy he had slaves, tough. Motoyasu and that trash king has tried to make a big deal about it too. If they wanted him and his companions to risk their lives to save the world they would have to let him do whatever made that easier.

Firo flopped down onto his arm, she was in her loli form. "Master! Firo is hungry! Cook something for Firo!"

Both Naofumi's eyebrows jumped. "You're kidding, right? Do I have to change your name to Bottomless Pit?"

Everyone else was looking at her in amazement too. She'd been stuffing her face with alligators, poison frogs, and giant snakes practically non-stop since they'd made camp here.

"How can you possibly still be hungry?" Roland asked.

"Groo impressed! Groo respect girl with big appetite. Just too bad she not fill out."

Firo glared at the minotaur and stuck her tongue out. "Boo!"

"If you're hungry there's still plenty for you to eat," Naofumi waved to the vast array of slain monsters.

"Nooooo! Firo wants master to cook something for her! Master's cooking is the yummiest!"

"I've already cooked for everyone." They'd been attacked by a giant catfish with razor sharp teeth. He'd turned it into fillets and everyone (except Firo) had eaten until they were stuffed. "I'm not cooking again until dinner time."

"But Firo wants more of master's cooking!" She pouted and stared up at him with big blue eyes.

"Firo," Raphtalia chided. "Don't be selfish, master has already cooked for you. You can't expect him to do nothing but cook."

"Why not? Master's not doing anything. It's boring now."

"Huh, now that you mention it, nothing's attacked us in a while."

Since entering the swamp they'd been under constant siege day and night. It seemed that hydras were the boss monster in this area, and they'd fought four of them along with countless hordes of everything else. There had been short breaks between encounters, allowing them time to rest, but now it had been a few hours.

"We haven't even been attacked by a moss or toadstool."

"Then we've probably exterminated all the active monsters in this part of the swamp," Roland said. "Any who are left are going to avoid us."

"That can happen?" Naofumi said in surprise.

"Naturally," Roland sounded surprised by Naofumi's surprise. "Monsters are part of the ecosystem too. They don't breed to infinite numbers and they take time to grow to adulthood. If you wipe out a local population of course all that will be left are the ones who aren't mature yet, and it will take time for them to grow."

Naofumi grunted as he realized he'd been thinking of the monster here in terms of monster spawns in RPGs and MMORPGs. In a game you could literally never run out of monsters. If you went to one area and killed a hundred slimes you could always come back, and you'd find unlimited numbers of those exact same slimes waiting for you. But the creatures here didn't operate that way. They had to eat to survive, either other animals or plants. He supposed the plants could just rely on photosynthesis. The weaker monsters were no doubt prey to bigger ones. The hydras that were the apex predator here were in small numbers so that the food supply was enough to sustain them. Firo was a perfect example of the fact monsters had to eat like any other animal. In his own world lions, tigers, elephants, and other animals were in danger of extinction thanks in part to hunters. Of course, it would work the same here.

 _I always called the other heroes idiots for thinking of this world like a game. But I guess I'm guilty of that too in some ways. I can't depopulate the hunting grounds, or I run out of monsters. If I run out of monsters I run out of xp and I'm screwed._ It was not a problem he'd ever imagined happening, but it only made sense to not go overboard and wipe out everything. Especially not in a place where there were no people in danger.

"If we trek a few miles inland we'll fine more monsters," Roland said. "The swamps are large and I'm sure there are plenty more still."

"No," Naofumi decided. He stood up and took out his backpack. "Gather up all the loot. We'll head back to the castle."

"Are you certain. Naofumi-dono?" Roland asked. "There are still plenty of monsters."

"Wouldn't it be a waste not to keep going, Naofumi-sama?" Raphtalia asked.

He'd raised her to be efficient and not waste things. She was looking at the situation the same way he had before coming to his realization.

"No, we've done plenty. Let's leave some of the monsters to repopulate and come back for them another day. I mean I'm sure there are other hunting grounds, right?"

"There are," Roland confirmed. "There are also monsters spawned by the waves still infesting parts of the countryside."

"Good, then we'll focus on those. Besides I think I've absorbed as many plants and monsters as I can into my shield. If possible I want to find more things I haven't encountered yet to keep getting more new shields and bonuses."

That seemed to make sense as everyone nodded.

As they'd fought off a horde of different creatures and found lots of useful plants, the loot they were taking back with them was enough to fill up a couple carriages.

"Since everyone fought equally once everything is sold we'll divide up the money equally." Naofumi thought that was the only fair thing to do.

"Uhm," Raphtalia's ears were twitching. "Does that mean you're going to take a share too, Naofumi-sama?"

Naofumi's eyes widened. "Of course, I am. Why would you even need to ask that? I did my share of the fighting didn't I?"

"Ah, it's not that, it's just… well…"

"Yes?"

"You have access to the treasury, so do you really need a share?"

"Yes," he said without even stopping to think about it. "I earned a share so I'm going to take it. My other sources of income are besides the point. 

"Right." Raphtalia sighed and her ears drooped.

Cassandra looked at him with a bright smile. "Wow, the Shield Lord is surprisingly greedy."

"I am not! I'm just thrifty!"

Naofumi noticed that neither Raphtalia nor Firo said a word in his defense.

"Whatever," he muttered. He took the guidon from his pack and drove it into the soft ground. Light began to emanate from the crystal ball. A couple minutes later a gateway opened in front of them. Firo and Groo were carrying the bulk of the loot and went through first. The others followed right behind. Naofumi was last. He pulled the guidon back out and stepped through.

XXX

Asrial greeted them upon their return. The huge haul would be locked up in storage until they could find buyers for all of it.

"Does the castle have a bathhouse?" Naofumi asked.

"It does, my lord. Shall I Have a servant show you the way?"

"Yeah, I'm covered in mud and slime. I need a good long soak."

"What a great idea!" Cassandra leaned over to him. "Mind if I join you?"

Naofumi's face reddened slightly. Even after working together for five days he still had a little trouble dealing with the sexy bunny girl in the leather corset and mini skirt. Who could guess why?

"I don't think that would be proper etiquette."

"Actually," Asrial said trying to be helpful. "The baths are quite spacious, and we do allow mixed bathing."

All eyes turned his way.

Naofumi coughed into his hand. "Actually, if you don't mind, I'd rather bathe alone."

"Oh, I see," Cassandra's smile fell, and her bunny ears appeared to wilt. "Well, whatever makes you comfortable, Naofumi-dono."

Firo grabbed onto his arm. "Firo wants to bathe with, Master!"

Naofumi nodded. "That's fine."

"Then I-" Raphtalia began and cut off as her face turned red.

Naofumi looked over at her. "Do you want bathe together too?"

Her face turned an even brighter shade. "Well, y…yes I do."

"Sure."

"Really?!"

Cassandra's ears went stiff and were quivering. "Wait a minute. Naofumi-dono, why are you okay bathing with her but not me?"

"She and Firo are like my daughters so it's only natural. It's like a family sharing a bath."

"Daughter?" Cassandra gave both of them a disbelieving look.

Raphtalia did not say anything and simply went over to Naofumi's side as they left for the bathhouse. As Cassandra was still standing there dumbfounded Groo came over and patted her shoulder.

"Groo will be happy to bathe with you. Groo will also let you scrub his back and other places."

"Shut up!" She yelled and stormed off.

XXX

After a nice hot bath Naofumi, Raphtalia, and Firo went to have dinner together. Raphtalia was being unusually quiet. When they had gotten into the bath together she had asked him what he thought.

"About what?" He'd replied.

"Nothing! Never mind!"

After that she hadn't said much.

They were just sitting down to eat when Cassandra and Roland came in looking excited.

"Naofumi-dono," Roland said. "We've just found out some great news!"

"What?"

"Camria Island has awakened! It's an opportunity to fight unique monsters and gain a lot of xp! It only happens once every ten years, so we have to get there as soon as possible!"

Naofumi was immediately interested and asked to hear more.


	11. Camria Island

"You want to visit Camria Island, Naofumi-dono?" Kluger asked in a deliberately neutral voice. He and the Shield Lord were having a private meeting in his quarters. Kluger had finished working for the day and had been relaxing. But when the Shield Lord came knocking on his door the chancellor had immediately invited him in. The subject he brought up was not one that pleased him.

"That's right," the Shield Lord said excitedly. "Roland and Cassandra checked in with the local adventurers' guild and heard the news. Now I know Camria is part of Melromarc, but is there any possible way you can get me and my team permission to go there? I'm not eager to go back to any part of that kingdom, but this is just too good of an opportunity to pass up. And from what they say this special hunting season only lasts about two weeks and then it won't come again for ten years. If what they told me is even half true there's not only a bonanza of xp out there but also unique creatures I won't be able to find anywhere else. So, if we don't go I'll lose out on activating certain shields permanently. I know it may be impossible since it's me, but is there anything you can do to get us permission?"

Kluger didn't reveal anything, but internally he winced. _Of course,_ the adventurers' guild would know about it! Adventurers from all over the world flocked there to try and take advantage of the event. He should have summoned Roland, Groo, and Cassandra to him and sworn them to secrecy. Unfortunately, he'd been distracted by having to direct a special operation in a foreign country. Well there was no helping it now. The Shield Hero knew and wanted to go. If he didn't arrange it there might be questions and those could lead to some very serious consequences.

"As it turns out, Naofumi-dono, we received a diplomatic communique from the queen of Melromarc just this morning. She formally extends an invitation to you and your party. The other heroes will also be attending. In addition, she requested a meeting with you."

"Huh, well that's convenient. Why didn't you tell me as soon as I got back?"

Kluger placed a hand to his heart and bowed low. "My apologies, Naofumi-dono. I assumed after so much time trekking through a swamp you would want to eat a hot meal and get at least one night's rest. I planned to inform you first thing in the morning."

"I see. That's fine. I do want to get a good night's sleep before heading out. We'll leave in the morning. Can Asrial send us there? If not we need to board a ship as quick as possible."

"Asrial has been there, just about every classed-up adventurer has."

"Great, well that takes care of that then." The Shield Lord turned to go.

"Naofumi-dono?"

The Lord stopped. "Yes?"

"Do you intend to meet with Queen Mirelia?"

"Probably. I mean, whatever her reasons the fact is she did help me after I was wounded fighting the Pope. Raphtalia and Firo both have a good impression of her. Besides, it would be pretty rude for me to arrive there as her guest and refuse to talk with her."

Kluger licked his lips and considered his words carefully. "I am most familiar with the queen of Melromarc. She is very intelligent and most skilled when it comes to negotiation and diplomacy. When the other courts found out her country had summoned all four Legendary Heroes the immediate reaction was a call for war. The only reason that did not happen was due to her diplomatic efforts."

"Is that why she was away for so many months?"

Kluger nodded. "There was a conference in Faubley. It took that long to calm everyone down and convince them to maintain the peace in order to combat the wave." Without noticing it Kluger's tail began to lash back and forth. "I will confess that my voice was one of the loudest shouting for war. The idea that Melromarc, a country that reviles the Shield Lord, would summon you was infuriating beyond all words."

The Shield Lord nodded. "Yeah, if you guys had been the ones to summon me here things would have been very different."

"Certainly. My point is that Queen Mirelia was able to convince even me, no small task. She is very charismatic and knows how to bring people over to her side of things."

The Shield Lord had a mischievous grin. "And you're worried that if I meet with her she'll win me over too."

"I have absolutely no doubt that is her objective. The sole reason she allowed you to return with me was because we threatened war. She would not have agreed to it otherwise. Having three heroes serving her is not enough apparently. I simply wish to caution you to be wary and to not take anything she says at face value. I am sure she will make many false claims and accusations to try and convince you to return to Melromarc. All I ask is that you keep in mind our support of you and our commitment to aiding you no matter the cost, Naofumi-dono."

"You don't need to worry. Since coming to this world I've learned not to trust what people say, only what they do. You and your king have treated me better than I could have ever hoped for. I am not going to suddenly forget that. Besides, no matter what she says it doesn't change the fact that for four months she did absolutely nothing to help me while I was treated like a criminal. I'm also not about to forget she is the trash king's wife and the bitch's mother. I'm not going to suddenly trust her even if honey drips from her mouth."

"Thank you, Naofumi-dono," Kluger bowed. "That is relieving to hear."

"No problem, please ask Asrial to be ready to send us right after we have breakfast." The Shield Lord left.

Kluger was not happy. Despite his lord's assurances he was still worried. Mirelia was very convincing and would do everything possible to charm Naofumi-dono and win him over. He would just have to have faith that the lord would see through her.

XXX

The party had breakfast together, except for Groo. He had not yet returned to the castle. Messengers were sent out to look for him and Naofumi was worried that something might have happened. Roland assured him though that as long as he appeared on the party roster he had to at least be alive. He even had a full health bar, so he was likely fine.

The minotaur came stumbling in about an hour later; bleary eyed, with lipstick on his face, neck and chest, and reeking of alcohol and cheap perfume.

Cassandra took one sniff and pinched her nose. "You smell like a brothel."

The minotaur laughed and slapped a hand to his chest. "Groo cannot help being irresistible to the ladies. It is a curse Groo must bear."

Naofumi noticed Raphtalia's tail was stiff and the fur was puffed out. He had long since come to realize this was a sign she was feeling annoyed. It was rare though that her annoyance was directed at someone else.

"We were planning to leave for Camria Island right now," Naofumi said. "Can you come, or do you need some time to recover? Asrial can send you to us later."

"Groo can come," he said with a laugh. "Groo can rest when he's dead."

With the party finally assembled Asrial opened a gateway.

XXX

Naofumi and his party were deposited on a white sandy beach with the clearest blue water he'd ever seen in his life. There was not a cloud in the sky and a tropical sun was beating down. On the beach were mostly people in swimsuits and swim trunks, but there were also more than a few in armor or wizard's robes. There were shops and small stores that looked to be made of bamboo with grass roofs. There were also tall buildings up to ten stories tall that were marble or coral. One of the fancier ones reminded Naofumi of the royal palace in Melromarc. In the distance he could see a mountain and there were palm trees lining the streets. When he looked across the water he could see other islands and boats traveling to and from them.

 _This must be what Hawaii or Guam is like_ , Naofumi thought. It looked like a tropical paradise and the people here lwere ounging out on the sand or swimming in the ocean.

"I thought this place was supposed to be overrun with monsters."

"The main island is the only one that's inhabited and monster free," Roland said. He pointed to some of the others that were in view. "All the other islands are filled with monsters. You can fight monsters here year-round, but during this one time the population explodes for some reason. Also, the xp values are much higher than they would be normally. No one knows why it happens, it's a mystery. Even though people call it Camria Island it's actually an archipelago. Adventurers come here to take advantage of the chance to level up quickly, but they're also needed. If the numbers aren't kept down the monsters would swarm out and annihilate all the locals."

"The rest of the time," Cassandra added. "This place is a tropical resort. They have bars, shows, shopping, and even hot springs."

"Hot springs?" Naofumi asked immediately interested.

Cassandra had an enthusiastic smile. "Most of the fancy hotels have them, and there are a couple public baths. Want me to show you one?"

Raphtalia had a worried look on her face.

"Hot springs?!" Firo began jumping around. "Can we go, master? Can we?"

Naofumi shook his head. "Maybe later. I think we need to check in first and get some rooms. The queen sent me an invitation, so there should be rooms reserved somewhere. But Kluger didn't have the details so I guess we'll need to just ask around."

They began heading to one of the hotels. They had taken about a dozen steps when a cloaked figure with a mask suddenly appeared in front of them and bowed.

"Welcome to Camria Island Shield Hero-sama. Her majesty is most pleased to see you and your brave companions have accepted her invitation. If you would please follow me I can take you to the hotel where her majesty and the other heroes are staying."

Naofumi recalled seeing three people dressed like this once before. It had been in Lute village shortly after the second wave event. The bitch had announced Motoyasu was the new local lord and that he would be imposing an insane toll on anyone entering or leaving. Things had started getting ugly when the three figures suddenly showed up. He remembered the moment very clearly, it was the first time he'd ever seen the bitch look scared.

"Ah, who are you?"

The cloaked figure bowed to him again. "I am one of her majesty's shadows."

"A shadow?"

Raphtalia hurried up and whispered in his ear. "They serve the queen as assassins and spies."

 _Assassins huh? A little worrisome that they spotted me so quickly and just appeared out of nowhere._

"If you would follow me, Shield Hero-sama?"

"Sure," he said.

They headed to a hotel that looked like a miniature palace carved from pink coral.

"If it pleases you, Shield Hero-sama, her majesty would like to share a private dinner with you tonight."

 _Not wasting much time, is she?_ "Sure, I look forward to it."


	12. A short reunion

There was a fountain in the hotel courtyard of a marble dolphin spewing water into the air.

"Wah! That's so amazing!" Firo ran over to stare at it with childlike excitement.

Seeing that made Naofumi smile. There were times when Firo could be blunt and very, very competent. In the midst of battle was an obvious example. But there were plenty of other times when she acted like a little girl. It was times like these when he wanted to protect her more than anything. It was something he also felt for Raphtalia.

So, when he deliberately put them in danger he felt some guilt. But at times like those he would ask himself what choice he had and there was always the same answer; he didn't have one. Even if he freed them the waves of calamity would continue and eventually destroy the world. If they helped him stop the waves then it would be immoral _not_ to keep putting them in danger.

As he was watching Firo staring at the fountain some people came out the hotel entrance. Naofumi saw that it was the other heroes and their parties. Ren was the first one to come out, followed by five companions. Itsuki was right behind with six companions. That surprised Naofumi a bit since he knew the party system inflicted xp penalties on a party with more than six people. He noticed a green haired girl bringing up the rear who couldn't have been older than fourteen or fifteen. The way she chased after the others she seemed a bit nervous and unsure of herself. He wasn't sure he approved of Itsuki using someone so young in his party.

 _Not that I can talk,_ Naofumi thought. _I got Raphtalia when she was ten and Firo isn't even three months old._

And bringing up the rear was Motoyasu. The second Naofumi spotted the guy he looked for the bitch. Normally she was attached to Motoyasu's hip, whispering in his ear and telling him what to think. He was surprised to only see two women with him and neither one bitch.

When the other heroes spotted him, they came to a stop in the courtyard, their companions did the same. Ren and Itsuki were looking at him with suspicion and the two put their heads together and whispered.

 _Nice to see nothing's changed_. He didn't hate Ren or Itsuki the way he did Motoyasu. The two of them had attacked him when they believed he'd kidnapped Melty. But they hadn't been as brainwashed as the Spear Hero and were suspicious at how eager the royal guards had been in attacking him. They had made no effort at all to rescue Melty and had seemed willing to kill her if it meant they killed him too. They'd decided to investigate the situation and figured out what the church was up to.

But Naofumi couldn't trust them. When he'd originally been accused by the bitch they had condemned him along with everyone else. Later after the first duel with Motoyasu they had been the only ones to call out bitch's sneak attack on him and had even demanded the king give him a reward. **But** they'd also accused him of stealing their jobs and attacked him with Motoyasu without ever giving him a chance to tell them the truth. Even _knowing_ bitch was someone who would cheat in a duel they still took her word over his. If they were ready to always believe the worst of him there was no way he could trust those two.

By comparison Motoyasu and his two friends were openly glaring at him. The guy was his enemy and Naofumi hated his guts. The guy had gone far out of his way to fuck him in every way possible. He'd challenged him to two duels to steal Raphtalia and then Firo from him. And while trying to free Melty he had flat out said he was there to **kill** him and save Melty and his two companions. Then later when the Pope ambushed them that piece of shit had just expected him to forget all that and fight shoulder to shoulder.

Naofumi had given the asshole a bloodless smile. "I owe you nothing, so please die now." He then ran a finger across his throat.

Yes, he'd eventually fought with him when Ren and Itsuki showed up. But that had been because if his promise to Fitoria and because there really hadn't been another choice. He didn't think there was any chance he would ever see Motoyasu as anything other than an enemy, and from the look of things the Spear Hero felt the same.

When Ren and Itsuki finished conspiring, Ren waved a hand to him. "Hey Naofumi, we weren't sure you and your party were coming."

"The queen said she sent you an invitation days ago but hadn't heard back. You really should be more polite since she's doing you a favor."

With those words his opinion of Itsuki, Ren, and the queen dropped. "Oh? I saved the lives of both her daughters, so really who should be grateful to who?"

Itsuki frowned. "I'm just saying-"

"For that matter, I've saved your life and the lives of all your companions _twice._ Once in the wave against Glass and once with the Pope. _You_ never said one word of thanks to me and the next time we met after the wave you attacked me. So, I don't want to hear any complaints about showing people appreciation coming from your mouth."

Itsuki's face reddened and he looked embarrassed.

Ren nodded. "You're right, we do owe you thanks. But you could try to be a little more friendly."

Naofumi shrugged. "You want me to act like we're pals try and earn my friendship first."

"That's the reason everyone hates you!" Motoyasu scowled and pointed at him. "You act all high and mighty all the time! Who would be friends with a guy like you?"

Naofumi grinned back at him. "You're calling me high and mighty? Pot meet kettle."

Motoyasu stood there blinking. Apparently in the Japan of his world that wasn't a saying.

Naofumi made a point of craning his neck to look around in all directions. "So, where's the bitch? Shouldn't she be here to tell you what to say next?"

"Don't call her that!" Motoyasu yelled furiously. "Her name is Mein!"

"Bitch she is and so bitch is what I'll call her."

Motoyasu was gripping his spear tight and glaring at Naofumi with obvious rage.

Ren coughed into his hand and drew everyone's attention. "Mein was disowned by the queen and banished. We don't know where she is now. The queen tried her and the king and made them both confess to framing you. We know the truth now, that you never did what Mein accused you of." Ren bowed his head. "I'm sorry for not believing you."

 _Damn it,_ Naofumi thought. _I might actually start to like you._

Itsuki looked very uncomfortable but bowed. "Me too. I want to apologize for not believing in you. And thank you for saving me and my friends."

Naofumi grunted and nodded. Given what he went through an apology wasn't much, but it was something. He looked over at Motoyasu.

"What about you, Spear Hero? You got anything to say?"

"It's your fault."

"What?!" Naofumi barked back.

"I know Mein! She's a good person! I know she did some horrible things, but I'm sure there were reasons. I'm sure you must have done something to cause all this! You definitely-"

Motoyasu suddenly cut off and there was a look of fear on his face. The other heroes and companions all abruptly had frightened expressions.

"Naofumi-sama! Your shield!"

Hearing Raphtalia's voice he suddenly noticed his shield had transformed into the Shield of Wrath. He hadn't done it deliberately, it had obviously responded to the anger rising inside him.

He sent Motoyasu the sort of evil smirk the shop keepers in Melromarc had learned to dread. "Hey Motoyasu, how about a duel? That's your usual answer to things, right? If I win you 'free' your two companions and you give me everything you have. If you win, I'll let you keep it all."

"Huh? What kind of duel is that? It's not fair if I risk everything and you risk nothing."

"You sure? You didn't used to think so."

The shadow stepped forward to block the line of sight between Naofumi and Motoyasu. "The queen has forbidden all duels between the Heroes. Shield Hero-sama, Spear Hero-sama, please remember you are on the same side. You are not enemies."

"Hey," Motoyasu said. "He's the one you need to remind not me!"

"Oh, don't worry," Naofumi said with that same hostile smirk. "I know exactly who my enemies are."

Firo ran up to Naofumi's side. "Master! Want me to kick him?"

"Sure, Firo."

"Naofumi-sama!" Raphtalia grabbed Firo by both shoulders. "Firo, he's joking!"

"No, I'm not."

"Grrk!" Motoyasu instinctively brought his thighs together and placed a protective hand over the family jewels. Naofumi noticed the guy had a sold steel codpiece in place. "Wh… Whatever! We're going to level up! Make sure you go to a different island, so you don't get in our way!"

The Spear Hero rushed past with both girls right on his heels.

Ren sighed. "It is good to see you again Naofumi, good luck with leveling." He headed off with his team.

"Later," Itsuki said. He left with his team following. The underage girl brought up the rear.

As soon as they were gone Raphtalia rounded on Naofumi. "Naofumi-sama, couldn't you have at least tried to be a little nicer? We're going to have to get along with the other heroes aren't we?"

He changed his wrath shield back to the basic form. "We have to cooperate with them Raphtalia, we don't have to get along. You can work with people you hate. I used to work at a McDonalds, I know."

"Who is McDonald?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Now if you come with me you and your party can check in and then I will explain the rotation for training," the shadow said.

XXX

On their way to the docks the three heroes walked together and talked.

"You know Motoyasu," Ren said. "You didn't have to be so belligerent back there. Naofumi was innocent of everything and Mein only got what she deserved."

"No way! I'm sure Naofumi caused this to happen. I'm sure he's to blame."

"Oh yeah? Then why'd you kick her out if she was so innocent? If you really still believe in her why not tell the queen you want her back? I bet she's keeping track of her and could get her back here in no time. What do you say?"

Motoyasu grimaced and shook his head. "No thanks, I'll pass."

"Because you know she caused everything and that she's a bad person. You just don't want to admit it because then you'd have to admit that you were fooled too and as much a victim of hers as Naofumi."

"You don't know what you're talking about!"

"Sure."

"Hey," Itsuki said. "I acknowledge he never raped Mein and that he saved the princesses and us. He's done a lot of good, I won't deny it. But you know, there is something _wrong_ with him. I mean he has slaves, he's always angry with everyone, and back there you can't pretend that was a normal reaction. Calling up that shield like he did."

Ren sighed. "Okay, I admit the slave thing bothers me. Maybe he needed them at the start but he could free them now. And yeah, he's not the most social person out there. But he's had it rough, maybe we need to give him a little slack."

"I agree with Itsuki," Motoyasu said. "I mean did you see the new girl he has? What she was wearing?"

"Uh, it would be pretty hard to miss."

"What do you want to bet she's a slave too? I mean would any regular girl go around dressed like that?" Motoyasu asked.

"It is kind of suspicious," Itsuki agreed.

"I know!"

Ren sighed and gave up on trying to talk reason to them.

XXX

 **Author's Note:** I have recently published the fourth book in my Waldo Rabbit Series. **The Rabbit Who Lived** is now available for sale on Amazon. If you are interested in trying some of my original stories give it a chance.


	13. My dinner with Mirelia

The fire ants were the size of pit bulls and they were swarming out of the jungle in seemingly endless numbers. Every time anyone but Groo took one down they received 260 xp. Groo got 160. Four of them were glomped onto Naofumi's legs. Their mandibles excreted a gooey acid that could dissolve flesh. Despite this they couldn't even scratch him. They were small fries and everyone in his party was mowing them down with barely an effort. Given how weak they were the xp being gained was way out of proportion. He would have expected this level of monster to worth in the neighborhood of 60 to 80 xp. They'd also faced black ants, mud beetles, wood beetles, giant leeches, yellow and brown slugs, man eating plants, and tunneler worms. All these were monsters he'd never encountered before, relatively weak, in huge numbers, and worth two or three times as much xp as he would expect. Coming here had definitely been a good decision!

XXX

 **Earlier at the hotel**

"The archipelago has many small islands with unique ecosystems containing many different monsters," the shadow had explained. "During the awakening these different species will swarm in huge numbers and present a threat to the settlement here. Adventurers are called in from all over the world to keep them in check. During this period the xp values are much higher than normal. That makes this time a rare opportunity for adventurer to advance in levels."

"Just how dangerous are these monsters?" Naofumi asked.

"They are relatively weak."

"Define relatively, I don't like surprises."

"There are no dragons or other boss level monsters located on any of the islands. Some injuries and fatalities are expected among the lower level adventurers participating. But it's very rare among classed up ones. Given your levels I would not expect any issues."

Naofumi was excited. "Since the other heroes are already out there I want to get going too. I don't want to waste any time."

The shadow had nodded. "Understood, a ferry will take you to your assigned island. If it pleases you, the queen has assigned each hero a different island for each day. She hopes this will simplify the process for all involved."

Naofumi imagined running into Motoyasu while grinding. He might be _very_ tempted to do something criminal. "That will be fine."

"There will be other adventurers on the island as well. If it pleases you, Shield Hero-sama, you do not have to step aside for any other group. However, it is considered common courtesy not to steal kills and not interfere with others unless they call for aid."

Naofumi immediately nodded. "Sure, we'll follow the rules so long as everyone else does."

"Boats will be available to transport you back here to the main island any time during the day, but they do not go out at night. So please return by sunset."

"Sure."

XXX

Raphtalia came over and chopped up the fire ants that were clinging to him. They'd finished the swarm. No more were coming out of the jungle and there was a small pile of carcasses in front of them. He took a piece of the monsters at his feet and fed it into his shield.

 **The requirement for Fire Ant Shield has been unlocked.**

 **Fire Ant Shield**

Equipment Bonus: Acid Resistance +1 Unmastered.

It wasn't a particularly useful new shield or bonus, but he wasn't turning his nose up at anything. All those bonuses added up like the xp did. He'd acquired more than two dozen new shields on this island, not only from the monsters but from the plants too.

"Yummy!" Firo was in her bird form and scarfing down ants like peanuts. It said something that no one in the party looked surprised or commented on Firo's unlimited appetite.

When Naofumi looked at the sky he was surprised to see the sun was approaching the horizon. It felt like they had only just got there. Well they could do more grinding tomorrow on a different island. If each one really did have a different ecosystem that meant he could get as many or more new shields then.

"Let's head back to the dock."

As they tramped back towards the beach, Cassandra slid up beside him. The way she was leaning in he couldn't avoid getting an eyeful. "So, Naofumi-dono are you really going to have dinner with the queen of Melromarc tonight?"

"That's the plan," he made a deliberate effort to look in her eyes as he spoke.

"Well I hope you can resist her charms. I wouldn't put it past her to try and seduce you. I hear she's quite beautiful. Well, I mean for a woman her age. A married woman her age who has had two kids."

Before he could even tell her not to worry about it Raphtalia was on his other side. Without any warning she suddenly grabbed hold of his arm and hugged it to her chest.

"Naofumi-sama isn't interested in women! No matter how beautiful they may be!"

"Uh, Raphtalia the way you say that you makes it sound like I-"

Cassandra grabbed his other arm and smothered it into two plump mounds. "Maybe Naofumi-dono hasn't found the right woman yet. Who could blame him for losing interest when he was surrounded by naïve little girls who don't know what they're doing?"

"Who are you calling naïve?! I'm an adult, just like you!"

"Who are you trying to kid? We both know you don't measure up in the places it matters most. I'm sure Naofumi-dono wants the same thing all men do."

"No, he doesn't!"

"Okay you two do realize I'm right here don't you?" He stopped walking and extricated himself from both of them. "You don't have to worry. No matter what the queen says, or does I'm not interested in what she has to offer."

"I am glad to hear that," Roland said. "She's a dangerous and manipulative woman with a silver tongue. She has a genuine talent for convincing others to see things her way."

The moment he heard that Naofumi grimaced. That description fit bitch much too perfectly. No matter what the queen said to him he couldn't forget that she was bitch's mother. The apple didn't fall far from the tree.

"I don't think that's right," Raphtalia said. "She seems like a good person to me."

"Please don't take this the wrong way," Roland said. "But all that means is that she fooled you."

"No, she didn't! Why would you say that? Have you ever met her?"

"Mercifully, no. I only know her by her deeds. Melromarc lost the war to use but because of her diplomacy they avoided ceding any territory and got a white peace. The simple fact she summoned all four heroes, stealing them all for herself, and still talked her way out of war should prove just how wily and cunning she can be."

"She didn't know that was going to happen! It was all because of the king and the Three Heroes Church! They did it behind her back!"

The dog man shook his head. "You really are naïve aren't you?" Raphtalia opened her mouth to protest but he continued. "She isn't some puppet on a throne. She is a mastermind who rules through intimidation and manipulation. Her shadows are acknowledged to be the finest assassins and spies in all the world. She and Aultcray were always united, always a team. He was her sword and she told him where to strike. Do you really believe she was completely ignorant? That she just happened to be at an international conference when the summoning occurred? The one and only place where she could talk her way out of being attacked and still have all four Legendary Heroes in her service? That is just too much coincidence to believe in."

Naofumi frowned. Roland made some excellent points. If this queen really was as brilliant and well informed as everyone said, wouldn't it be a little too convenient for her to be totally unaware of what her husband was doing?

"Then why did she and the Pope fight?"

"I'd assume they had a falling out. Maybe he got too greedy. Maybe he disagreed with some of the queen's policies. That doesn't mean they weren't on the same side when the summoning took place."

"You're wrong, she punished her daughter and husband exactly because they did all those horrible things behind her back!"

Roland shook his head and muttered. "So innocent."

"What?" Raphtalia demanded. The shadow had told them about the trial and the punishments.

"This punishment occurred _after_ the Shield Lord was freed from her clutches and when she realized she was facing a coalition of nations ready to go to war over her treatment of him. It was only at that point she turned on them. She made the king and the princess the scapegoats because it was the only way to appease the other courts and avoid a war. And even then, what were the punishments? Imprisonment, not in a cell or a dungeon put in the royal palace, and banishment. The standard punishment for treason is, and always has been, death. If the two of them really had betrayed her she would have had them executed. Instead she punished them in a way that she could still restore them to her service at any time."

Raphtalia shook her head. "You're wrong, she had Princess Malty arrested immediately after the fight with the Pope. And she was very angry with her and the king."

"Which proves exactly nothing. She's having dinner with the Shield Lord because she knows how powerful he is. He is more powerful than the other three combined!" Cassandra and Groo nodded their agreement. "Of course, she wants to keep that power on her side. I don't doubt that before the Shield Lord was rescued she intended to put on a show trial for him. One complete with her own tears and apologies for being 'fooled' by the king and princess. Perhaps they still would have been disowned, imprisoned, and banished. More likely she would have found out what punishment would best appease the Lord and inflicted that. She will say or do anything to get the Shield Lord's power."

Raphtalia kept arguing in defense of the queen, but Naofumi noted that her arguments were all based on her impression of the woman. Roland's arguments were based on logic and on interpreting the events that had occurred. He couldn't really deny that most of what he said made perfect sense. He kept thinking about it all the way back to the hotel.

XXX

They made it back in time for Naofumi to take a quick bath and change into some clean clothes before a shadow arrived to escort him to dine with the queen.

The entire top floor of the hotel was reserved for the queen and her staff. The shadow informed him that the hotel itself was a private residence owned by the royal family. It did not actually serve as a hotel except when royal guests or family members came to the island. He was led into her majesty's suite where a table was already prepared and laden with many dished and various bottles and pitchers. Her majesty was there waiting to greet him. She was a very attractive woman with purple hair and lavender eyes. If he hadn't known she was the mother of bitch he'd have guessed her age to be in the late twenties or early thirties. She wore a gold crown with five red gemstones imbedded in it. The gown was elegant and obviously expensive, he was relieved that it wasn't at all revealing. He realized he'd seen her before.

"Shield Hero-sama, no Iwatani Naofumi-sama, I am truly grateful that you agreed to meet with me. I am Mirelia Q Melromarc, monarch and ruler of Melromarc," she then surprised him by falling to one knee. "I must beg your forgiveness. Though it was never my intention, a queen must bear the responsibility for the actions taken by those who act in her name. I know how terribly you were treated and how unjustly. I hope you can accept my sincere apology."

Naofumi then did something that he was sure surprised her. He fell to one knee too so that he could speak to her eye to eye.

"Since you healed me and helped Raphtalia and Firo after the battle with the Pope and invited me here and have never _personally_ wronged me, I'll accept your apology majesty. But please understand that in the culture I come from we believe strongly in personal responsibility. We also believe that people who harm others must answer for their crimes whether they are forgiven or not."

"I see," the queen rose to her feet smoothly and gracefully. "Perhaps we can discuss this matter of justice over a meal. If it pleases you, I have had all the food laid out and we can serve ourselves. I have dismissed my servants so we can speak in private."

Naofumi looked about the room. He'd seen her assassins vanish and appear out of nowhere. "Are we really alone? You don't have a shadow watching to keep you safe?"

The queen raised an eyebrow. "I assure you we are alone. I am a capable magic user when the need arises. Tell me Naofumi-sama, do I need protection?"

He shook his head. "Not from me."

"I am pleased to hear that." She motioned to one of the seats at the table and they both sat down.

"We've met before," he ignored the bottles of wine and instead poured himself some water. "It was in Melromarc castle after my last meeting with the king. You thanked me for my help with the wave."

"That was not me. It was my doppelgänger, a shadow who bore my appearance. For political reasons it is sometimes useful for me to be seen in many places at once."

"I see."

"I did receive a report of that meeting. You demanded that if my husband wanted to hear you answer his question that he kneel down before you and beg. I believe you also threatened to murder him in his own throne room before departing."

"I did," Naofumi said without hesitation. "I saved the other heroes and all their companions including the bitch. Instead of rewarding me for that, or even thanking me, he demanded to know how I did it while calling me a liar and telling me to my face he wouldn't believe my answer. So, I told him if he really wanted to find out he should get down on his knees and beg for it. He ordered me to be executed."

"I'm not surprised."

Remembering the experience, a cruel smile touched his lips. "I activated my wrath shield and reminded him I was more powerful that the other three heroes put together. I then looked at the guards who'd drawn their swords and surrounded me. I asked which of them was going to come take my head." He couldn't help but chuckle. "I told the king I was strong enough to walk into the castle, kill him, and walk out again. When I explained the reality of the situation he suddenly got very quiet and very pale."

"I can imagine."

"I told him I would cooperate with the other heroes during the waves but that otherwise I was done with him. That he'd be wise not to get in my way again. I also told him that if he touched my companions I would murder him."

"And would you have?"

"Yes."

Mirelia sat back and stared at him. "You are surprisingly straightforward Naofumi-sama."

He shrugged and put some rice and vegetables on his plate. "If you know what they did to me then you should understand why I'd be happy to murder him and the bitch."

"By bitch I assume you are referring to my first born, the former princess Malty?"

"No, I am referring to the bitch who betrayed my trust, robbed me, accused me of rape on my second night in this world, and then did everything in her power to screw me over and get me killed. So far as I'm concerned her name isn't Malty or Mein or anything else other than Bitch. Well. I guess Whore would work too."

The queen sighed. "I see you have many deeply held resentments."

"If your shadows gave you accurate information then you should know why."

"Naofumi-sama, I freely admit that there is no excuse for the atrocious behavior you received. I ordered my husband not to discriminate against you and to give you the same aid and support as the other heroes."

"And yet I suffered for four months. If you were so worried about me why didn't you act sooner?"

She bowed her head. "Please understand, the moment I heard of the incident I sent my husband a reprimand and clear instructions to interrogate the former princess and discover the truth. And that if the charges were false to exonerate you and place the former princess arrest. I commanded that whatever was found out that he still support your efforts for the sake of fighting the waves. He ignored all my instructions. Eventually I was forced to send my daughter Melty in the hopes that he might at least listen to her."

"Forgive me majesty, but I was told Melromarc is a matriarchy, that you have the ultimate power and the king only rules at your leisure. You could have replaced him with someone who would have been fair."

"Unfortunately, Naofumi-sama I could not. Aultcray has, had, many supporters in the nobility as in the former church. In order to maintain stability during this time of crisis it was necessary he remain in authority until I could come in person to act as ruler. The international situation made that impossible until recently."

"Because Melromarc had no right to summon all four heroes at once, right? Funny I never heard a word about that until I arrived in Siltwelt."

"That is so, and because of the foolishness of my husband and the church I was forced to remain in Faubley to negotiate. I did what I could from a distance, but it was limited."

Naofumi thought of accusing her of knowing about the summoning from the start but decided not to. He had no proof, and after his own experiences was not going to condemn anyone without evidence. But he had suspicions. She was so well informed, except when she wasn't. Was that really because her shadows hadn't found out the truth in time? Or was it that she knew from the beginning?

"What exactly did you do to help me?"

"I sent a message to the slave trader to assist you and offer you his aid."

Naofumi frowned. "He offered me his services all right, for a price. I paid for everything."

"I would have been happy to have provided you funds, but I was afraid stories that you had a powerful benefactor might get out and possibly lead back to me."

"And why would that be a problem?"

"To maintain confidence in the monarchy it was vital I not be seen as contradicting Aultcray. All my reprimands and instructions were sent to him in private so that I did not undercut his authority."

"I see," he said bitterly. "So, you were happy to help the man accused of raping your daughter so long as you could do it in secret. You know, if you had made a public declaration of my innocence, sent me a bag of gold, or paid for a werewolf to fight for me _that_ would have been a real help."

"I am sorry, Naofumi-sama. The situation at the time was delicate, both internally and externally. I could not take any action that would lead to either a foreign invasion or internal upheavals. But now that the church has been suppressed and I have reasserted myself I am in a position to give you the full support I had always intended to."

"In other words," Naofumi said dryly. "When I desperately needed your help, you couldn't give it to me, but now that I don't need it it's mine. How convenient."

"Please try to understand. There are limits to what ever a queen can do."

"Heroes have limits as well," he told her. "When I was peddling some people started to refer to me as the Saint of the Sacred Bird. But I never pretended to be a saint. All I am is a regular guy who wants to go home. I'm not here because I want to save the world, I'm here because I have to be. I'm not sure exactly what you expect from me."

"Naofumi-sama, I understand your anger and resentment have been well deserved. All I ask from you is the chance to repair this damage and earn your trust."

He sighed. "Your majesty, please allow me to be honest with you."

She had a slight smile. "Naofumi-sama, are you saying up until now you've been discreet?"

He couldn't help it, he smiled back a little. Maybe she was a master manipulator, but he liked this queen. Not that it would make a difference.

"Majesty, I have been called a lot of different things since arriving here. I've been called a demon a devil a rapist and a criminal. I've also been called a saint a savior a lord and even a god."

She nodded. "Yes, I imagine Siltwelt is quite interesting for you."

"But see, I'm really none of those things. I like to think I'm a mirror, I'm reflecting whatever it is you show me. I'm sure some people think I'm a very dark mirror, but that darkness comes from them, not me. Even if I don't blame you directly majesty, the fact is Melromarc treated me horribly from the moment I arrived. Siltwelt has treated me with nothing but kindness and has helped me in every way possible. Even if I believe you genuinely want to help me and aren't responsible for anything your husband and daughter did to me, I still have no reason to come back here. Besides which, you already have three heroes. Wanting all four is just greedy."

The queen poured herself a cup of wine. "Naofumi-sama, may I also speak with complete honesty?"

"Please do, majesty," he drank a little water.

"The other three heroes are morons."

He spat the water out all over himself as he burst out laughing. He grabbed a cloth napkin and hastily wiped himself off as he continued to laugh.

"Okay, I have got to admit I wasn't expecting that," looking across the table he just could not keep himself from smiling. He really was starting to like this queen. "I'm not going to tell you you're wrong, but could you tell me why you think that?"

"I am quite happy to," she emptied her cup and began.


	14. An offer from the queen

"But first there is something I would like to know," the queen said. "Tell me, what precisely is an enpeasee?"

"An NPC? I guess you must have overheard one of the other heroes talking. It's an acronym that stands for Non-Player Character."

The queen frowned. "And what precisely is that?"

"Well you see in certain games there are characters who serve specific functions such as selling the player potions or weapons or letting them check into an inn or just giving them random information. They're a part of the game. Each one serves a specific function and you'll always find them in the exact same place throughout."

The queen's frown deepened. "So, you are saying they are essentially tools whose sole reason for existence is to allow the players to play their game?"

"That's right."

"And since you refer to them as non-player is it safe to assume they have no free will of their own?"

Naofumi nodded. "Yes, they're just there to do a task or even just to be background. Some NPC's will stand in one specific spot and repeat the same dialogue to you if you talk to them ad infinitum. Sometimes it can be as meaningless as 'It's a beautiful day.' Or 'Welcome to the town stranger.' And that's all they'll do for the entire game."

"I see. Thank you, Naofumi-sama, that does make things clearer for me."

"Were you listening to the others talk about a game?"

"No, the Spear Hero referred to me as an NPC. When he did so the other two heroes laughed in agreement."

"Oh." There was uncomfortable pause. "I'm sorry, they shouldn't have said that. That's very rude."

"Perhaps, but it is also quite illuminating. Tell me, Naofumi-sama do you believe you have divine protection?"

"What?" He replied in confusion.

"Do you believe that, if for instance, the Pope's ultimate spell Judgement had obliterated you, you would have simply woken up again in a hospital bed ready to continue?"

"Of course not! What kind of question is that?! Beating the Pope took everything I had and very nearly killed me! You saw it didn't you? If I hadn't gotten healing I'd be dead now not waking up in a hospital as if it were-" Naofumi abruptly stopped. "Oh crap, they don't honestly believe that, do they?"

"That they are players and that this entire world is a game? Yes, they most certainly do." The queen had another sip of wine. "They told me directly that they are immortal and cannot die."

"I suddenly understand why you called them morons."

The queen nodded. "Forgive me if this is a foolish question, but have you met a god since coming here?"

"A god?" Naofumi was once again startled. "Can you do that in this world?"

The queen quickly held up a hand and shook her head. "No, no, you most definitely cannot. I only brought it up because the Bow Hero seemed to believe you had."

"Really? I have no idea why he would think that. So far the closest I've come to meeting a god is Firo, who some villagers started calling the heavenly bird."

"And yourself of course," the queen reminded with a smirk.

"I'm not a god, trust me, if I were I wouldn't have failed algebra twice."

"What is algebra?"

"A torture inflicted on school children." The queen looked concerned. "I'm joking, it's nothing important."

"I see."

"I really don't get why Itsuki would believe something like that though."

"He believed it was the only explanation for your power level. The heroes referred to it as a 'cheat.'"

Naofumi grunted. "I wish I could say I was surprised. Of course, they can't just give me credit for working my ass off. When we first got here they all told me my shield was weak and I'd be worthless. So now that I'm actually strong they have to blame it on some imaginary cheat or god. It figures."

"Naofumi-sama, if it pleases you, could you tell me how you are so much stronger than the other heroes? Even though you have a lower level? Everyone who witnessed the battle against the Three Heroes Church commented on it. Plus, during the third wave event you were the only one not severely injured."

He shrugged. "I don't know. I've been working as hard as I could to get stronger fighting monsters and learning magic. I also had to waste a lot of time making a living. I don't have any special secret or cheat. I just worked hard."

"I see," the queen sounded disappointed. "Perhaps… the questions isn't why you are so strong, but rather why the other heroes are so weak. For truly, Naofumi-sama, you are on a different level."

He leaned back in his chair. "Which is why you want to recruit me."

"I won't deny that is a part of it, but even more important than your power and fighting ability is your character. Naofumi-sama, you _are_ a hero! Despite how you were treated you put yourself in danger to help innocent people! Both during the waves and in between."

"Don't try to make me sound noble, I'm not. I told you before I'm only here because I have to be. I fought the waves because I had to no choice, and everything I did in between I did to survive and make money. Believe me, if I could return home tomorrow I would. I am no hero."

"There we will disagree. While I understand you were not purely altruistic, the fact is you protected ordinary people when you did not have to. Three villages still exist because of your efforts. Lute village would have been destroyed and its residents massacred if not for you. The villages suffering from the cursed seed and rotting dragon also would no longer exist and its surviving residents would be refugees somewhere. Where the other heroes were gaining notoriety for all the wrong reasons, the common people saw and appreciated what you were doing for them. I know you do not see yourself as a saint, but that is how people view you."

"Well, I'm glad, but that doesn't change anything. And the people of Siltwelt see me in a pretty good light too."

"By comparison the reputation of the other heroes has been slowly deteriorating. Just as the people noticed you helping them, they have also noticed the other heroes ignoring their troubles. And with the dragon and the cursed seed they have seen the heroes actively causing problems. Word has also gotten out about how poorly they performed in the third wave event. The Three Heroes Church had deliberately spread rumors that they were false heroes in order to facilitate removing them and summoning new ones. These rumors were quickly accepted by many, and despite the best efforts of my government there is still a perception that there is only one 'real' hero among us. You can imagine how it was perceived when that one left to join our traditional enemy."

He shrugged. "If Melromarc had followed the rules you would have only gotten one hero, and there's no way it would have been me. Siltwelt was always where I was supposed to be summoned. So really, aren't you still two heroes ahead?"

"Naofumi-sama, my hope is that if you were to work together with the other heroes they might begin to follow your example and improve their behavior."

He remembered the encounter outside the hotel and laughed. "Good luck with that. They still don't think they've done anything wrong, or that I have anything to teach them. Ren is the only one who might listen to me, and I only say might. Itsuki is stubborn and Motoyasu wouldn't believe me if I told him water was wet."

"Naofumi-sama, I don't think you truly understand what a crisis this is. Not only for me and my country but for you as well. The histories and the scriptures tell us the waves of catastrophe will grow increasingly violent and massive until their conclusion. The Legendary Heroes and the Seven Star Heroes are the only hope for defeating them. If the other three do not begin to show serious improvement I honestly do not believe they can even survive until the final wave event. That should be as much of a concern for you as me."

"Look, I agree with you that they need to shape up. The problem is there's nothing I can do about it. Like I said they're not going to listen to me, and I don't have any secret technique to share with them anyway."

"Perhaps it would be enough for them to simply understand this is not a game. They see this as one vast entertainment, I see it as a desperate fight to save our world and everyone in it."

"I sympathize, but I don't have anything to suggest. I mean I've told them before this world isn't a game, but they didn't believe me. And I can tell you for sure they still won't. They probably won't until they have a bad end."

"Bad end?"

"In visual novels and certain games there was a limited number of specific outcomes. Good choices lead to good results and bad choices lead to bad ones. Naturally, in those sorts of games if you make too many bad choices it leads to bad outcome or a bad end."

"This is exactly what I am hoping to avoid. If this really were a game then the 'bad end' you speak of would be the literal end of the world."

"I understand, but I honestly don't think anything is going to change as long as things go smoothly for them. When we first arrived they all one hundred percent believed this was a game, a version they'd all played before. Now, I'd never played that specific game, but I had played others that had mechanics similar to this world. I assumed they knew what they were talking about and figured this was a game like they thought."

"But this impression changed?"

He grimaced. "Yeah, right about the time I was accused of rape and had everything taken from me. The game stopped being fun. I realized I was in a world and shitty one at that." He paused and looked embarrassed. "Excuse my language."

She waved it away. "Please, I am grateful for your honesty."

"Being cold, hungry, having people look at you like you were scum and whisper behind your back… it made this world very real to me. It wasn't about adventure or having fun anymore, it was about survival. Honestly, I don't think there's anything I could say or do that would get through to them. I mean they were nearly killed by Glass and the Pope. If that wasn't enough to bring the truth home I don't know what it would take."

"I see," she hesitated for a long moment. "What would you recommend I do? Falsely accuse them of crimes?"

"Hell no! I wouldn't wish that on anyone, not even Motoyasu." Naofumi leaned forward and looked severe. "You see, I would never want someone punished for something they didn't do. Same way I don't think the guilty should be allowed to get away scot free and not pay for their crimes."

Mirelia sighed. "May I presume you were not satisfied with the punishments I inflicted on the former king and princess?"

"That's putting it mildly."

"They were both disowned and stripped of their royal status, wealth, and possessions. The former king is now a prisoner and the former princess has been banished. They have both lost everything."

"Not quite everything, they both still have their heads don't they?"

The queen looked disappointed. "Is that what it would take to satisfy you?"

"It would be justice. When I was accused the king informed me the punishment for my crime was death. He told me the only reason I was not executed was because I was a hero. The bitch accused me of a capital offense and the trash king conspired with her to find me guilty. If the punishment for the crime they accused me of was banishment or imprisonment, then I would be satisfied. But it was death. Besides which, since they both deliberately went against your wishes, weren't they guilty of treason too? And isn't treason a capital offense?"

"It is,' the queen admitted. "I chose to be merciful. I would think you of all people could appreciate that."

"The difference is I never committed the crime I was accused of, they were both guilty and got away with it."

The queen's eyes widened. "Naofumi-sama, they have both been brought low and been made to suffer! They have their lives, but they have lost everything else, including their reputations! Please do not act as thought they were exonerated."

"Punishing a mass murderer, the way you would a petty thief isn't justice. You say the trash king is a prisoner? He's living in the same exact palace he always has. It must be horrible for him. As for bitch she is free to do anything she likes anywhere else in the world."

"Without funds or any support from the kingdom."

"If there's a man with money within fifty miles of her I'm sure she'll manage just fine."

The queen stared glumly back at him.

"I notice you're not telling me I'm wrong."

"I want us to continue to have an honest conversation."

Naofumi grunted. "Why did you give them such light sentences?"

"I am the monarch and final authority in Melromarc. As such it is my duty to enforce the laws and dispense justice. I am also a wife and a mother, I will not deny that did color my judgement. Despite how vile their actions were I still hold out hope they can be redeemed. In particular, Aultcray was a good man and a great general. He was one of the Seven Star Heroes. I truly believe if he can find his way he can again be the great man I fell in love with many years ago."

Naofumi thought of trash and couldn't imagine him and the man she was describing being the same person. _A woman in love can see whatever she wants to_.

"And bitch?"

"I have less hope for her, I know her true nature, but she is still my first born. I want to at least give her the chance to redeem herself."

"I wouldn't place any bets."

The queen gave him a placating smile. "The food is starting to grow cold. Perhaps we should eat and not let it go to waste."

"Sounds like a plan."

XXX

It was certainly a delicious meal and as they ate they avoided serious conversation and discussed pleasant topics such as the weather and his heroic adventures. For dessert there was a cherry pie and a lemon cake. As they were finishing their meal Mirelia steered things back to the main point.

"Despite what you believe I think the heroes would benefit from your influence. For instance, what would you think about a staff exchange between all the heroes' parties?"

"A staff exchange? What do you mean?"

I was thinking while the heroes are all here they could work with the members of the other party for a day or two. That way, you might get to better understand how the other parties fight and maybe exchange tactics and information."

Naofumi instantly pictured Motoyasu on a tropical island with Raphtalia, Cassandra, and especially Firo. This mental picture ended with Motoyasu being murdered or at least castrated.

"By the way you are smiling can I take it you like the idea?"

Naofumi shook his head and banished the much too pleasant imagery. "No, sorry. I didn't come here to help the other party members level up. I also don't want my companions forced to work with other heroes."

"That is a pity, would you at least be willing to meet with the other heroes and have a conference and share information?"

"Share information? Huh, you would not believe how many times I got screwed because I didn't know something that was common knowledge. I'd agree to that, but the other heroes have to understand I won't give them anything unless they give first."

"That might make things a bit difficult. They seemed recalcitrant about sharing knowledge."

"Well there's no reason for me to go then unless I get something for my effort."

"I see. Naofumi-sama, I really believe it would be best for you, for the heroes, and for the world in general for you to return to Melromarc and try and help make the other three see the light. I understand your objections, so I will offer you something even Siltwelt cannot match."

"Uhm, if it's gold or magical support or party members, I honestly don't believe that's possible."

Queen Mirelia shook her head. "I don't doubt they have provided you all you need and more. However, King Leo only has sons."

"Huh?"

"Iwatani Naofumi, I formally offer you my daughter's hand in marriage. If you will return to my service you can be Melromarc's next king."

Naofumi reared back as of she'd turned into a giant viper. "I refuse! Hell no! Me marry the bitch?! I'd sooner cut off my own balls with a rusty spoon!"

"Ah no," she motioned for him to calm down. "My first born is disowned and will remain that way save for some extraordinary circumstance. I was referring to my second daughter. She is the heir and will be the next queen."

"Melty? You want me to marry Melty?" He sounded only slightly less horrified.

"That is correct. You can be her husband and father her children."

"She's ten!"

"Eleven actually."

"Like that makes it better?!"

Mirelia frowned. "I was under the impression the two of you got along quite well."

"I like her fine, _as a child_! I'm not going to marry her though!"

"Ah, I see the problem. We would perform the wedding ceremony immediately, but of course you would not consummate the marriage until she was older. You will have plenty of time to get to know each other and grow close before you share the marital bed. Isn't this how political marriages in your world work?"

"No, definitely not. It did a long time ago, but now people only marry for love. I'll have to absolutely refuse."

"I see, that is terribly disappointing, but she will not be betrothed so long as you are in this world. My offer will remain standing should you at any point change your mind."

"Thank you, your majesty but I won't." He got up and bowed to her. "Even though I can't join you, I appreciate your kindness. I will try and help you and the other heroes as much as I can, but I can't abandon Siltwelt."

The queen stood and curtsied. "I understand and appreciate your position. Please know that I and my country are always at your service."

"Thank you," he turned to go.

"Naofumi-sama?"

He stopped and turned back to her. "Yes?"

"I am sure Siltwelt seems like a paradise to you. You mentioned that you were a mirror. Take a careful look at the reflection and you may see flaws that were hidden before. Whenever you return there please ask the chancellor about what happened to the fourth Shield Hero."

"Huh? Why? What happened to him?"

She shook her head. "I would not want to prejudice you in any way. Simply ask Chancellor Kluger when you have the chance."

He had a bad feeling about this. "All right, I'll be sure to do that." With that Naofumi left.


End file.
